An Angel's Wings
by mewmewlover23
Summary: Due to a tragic car crash and losing her parents, Mizuki Sora lost her will to play volleyball. She decided to go to her parents homeland, Japan, to forget those sad memories. But when she meets Hinata and Kageyama, her broken wings become bright again. With their help , will Sora be able to fly again or will something else bloom? HinataXOCXKageyama. Sightly AU.
1. Chapter 1: The Faithful Meeting

This is just re-edit

But for those people who are new! My name is Mewmewlover23 and my partner Bergliot! She is helping me write this wonderful story! I hope you all will take the time read this story and hope to hear reviews from you soon.

With that said! Here's Chapter 1

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Chapter One: The Fateful Meeting

In San Diego, California, reporters, newspapers, sport's bloggers, magazines and radio stations were preparing to release a story that will change the history of Seaside Academy's girl's volleyball team. The captain, Mizuki Sora, an eighth grader, Captain of the girls' volleyball team and wing spiker for the team, was in a tragic car crash.

The Mizuki family was on their way back from Sora's volleyball tournament, where her team, The Soaring Dolphin's had defeat the Red-Eyed Sharks. While on their way home, a black car hit the car holding Sora and her parents head on and vanished from the scene of the crime. The Mizuki family was quickly rushed to the hospital, but the medical team was only able to save Mizuki Sora.

The girls' volleyball team pulled out all tournaments that they were going to participate in and the school demanded that no reporters be permitted to enter the school and probe for information. But, all of these precautions did not help Sora deal with the pain. Her best friend and setter, Stephanie Morris, granddaughter to the Academy and her family has taken Sora in so she may finish her exams in peace.

The Morris family watched over Sora as she recovered from her injuries, but they could tell that the young girl has changed. She would always go back to her room or sleep in all day. They knew that this was going to be hard, but not to this point. Once bright and energetic Mizuki Sora, had lost her light, as well she had lost her love volleyball. Her father had been the coach for the team and was a noted volleyball player in his younger days while her mother had coached her over the basic plays and teammate play strategies. After the funeral, Sora and the Morris family sat down to discuss her future.

"Sora, you are welcome to stay with us as long as you want," Mrs. Morris said worriedly.

"I agree, you have always been like another daughter to us and I'm sure Stephanie would be happy to have another sister," Mr. Morris said. The two adults looked at the young girl and sighed.

"But, we have a feeling that this is not what you want," Mr. Morris said with a hint of sadness in his smile.

"…I'm sorry, but you have helped me enough. I appreciate you for everything you have done, but I cannot burden you any longer. I have already discussed it with Mr. Smith, but I will be moving to Japan after graduation and will be staying with a family friend," Sora answered. The two adults looked at the young girl and went over to give her a hug.

"We understand. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to contact us," Mrs. Morris said as she tried to hold back her tears. Sora bowed and left the room. She closed the door behind her and quietly walked back to her room to only see her friend waiting for her.

"So I guess this is it, huh," Stephanie asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Sora looked at her friend and sighed. "Steph… I…"

"Save it. I already prepared myself for this. Just promise me… You won't forget me ok," Stephanie said as tears flowed down her face.

A week after graduation, Sora began to pack her things and was then taken to the airport. Before she entered the gates, she gave the Morris Family, her best friend, her teammates, and her five close friend's good-bye hugs and boarded the plane. Before the plane departed she looked at her cellphone to make sure she didn't receive any messages. She only received one from the person who was supposed to pick her up from the airport once she landed.

'_I will be waiting by the gate with five kids. Be ready.'_

Sweat dropped down Sora's head. '_Be ready for what?_'

She shrugged and put her headphones into her ears, allowing her to lull herself into a light slumber.

A few hours later, she got off the plane and exited from the gate, heading turning left and right for the person and the apparent five kids who were waiting for her. She soon saw a sign that was colorfully decorated with drawings obviously drawn by kids that had her name on it.

"Ah, Ryuu-nii-san, there she is," A small boy yelled. A tall man who looked no younger or older than his twenties glanced in her way. Sora studied his appearance as she nervously fumbled with her carry on bag. He was dressed in a nice, clean navy suit, black shoes, dark black hair, a muscular body, small face, dark brown eyes. Very unlike the appearance of the Americans she was accustomed to in California. He walked up to Sora with the five children trailing behind him.

"Are you Mizuki Sora?"

"Hai." Sora replied.

"I am Takahiro Ryuu. I am the secretary and assistant caregiver at Taiki Orphanage. It is a pleasure to meet you. These are some of the kids who go there," Ryuu explained.

"I'm Kiyoshi Sota, nice to meet you," the boy said with a grin. Sora looked over the group of children, picking apart the appearance with meticulous care.

The Sota boy had caramel brown hair and dark black eyes. He was wearing a navy blue baseball cap, and yellow shirt with a red power ranger on it, blue shorts, and white tennis shoes. Overall, he looked like he was around six or seven.

"I'm Hibiki Keiko! I am happy to meet you Sora-nee-san!"

The little girl, Keiko apparently, looked around eight years old and had silky skin, light brown eyes and flaming red hair that came down to her shoulders with blue headband to keep her bangs from covering her face. She was wearing sky blue shirt with little flowers in the middle, a yellow polka-dot skirt, and sliver flat shoes.

"Hello, I'm Kichiro Naoki. It's nice to meet you," the boy said shyly.

Naoki looked more around Sota's age. He had light blonde textured hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a plain blue shirt, light brown shorts and blue sandals.

I'm Yoshiro Nori. Please take care of me Mizuki-san," another boy said politely.

He had orange spikey hair, had dark gray eyes, and wore black glasses. He had a red shirt on , black shorts and red sneakers on. His manners did not adequately fit his appearance of a typical seven year old.

"Hello, I am Yoshiro Ren, I am Nori-onii-chan's twin sister. I really glad to meet you," she said shyly. She looked just like Nori, but her hair was in two pig-tails that came half way down her arm and fare skin. She was wearing a red dress with a small butterfly belt around her stomach and black shoes.

"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Mizuki Sora. Please guide me for now on." Sora said with a small smile on her face.

"Let's go and get the rest of your things," Ryuu said. Sora nodded and they went to collect the rest of her things. The kids began to ask Sora a lot of questions, until Ryuu told them to stay silent and help collect Sora's bags. The kids did what they were told and grabbed some of the small and easily to carry items. They soon began to load up the van and left the airport. While in the car, the kids were talking to one another and Sora just stared out the window. She was thinking to herself how different her parent's home country was from America. Sora's parents taught her about the Japanese culture, just in case they went there one day. Besides Japanese, Sora learned, Spanish, German, and Italian.

"Sora-san," Ryuu said.

"Hai."

"Once we arrive at the house, you can begin to unpack your things. If you wish to go out, please let me know because the mistress is not here. Also, if you do go out, you are to back home around eight. If you are late, you will be punished. Is that understood?"

Sora nodded and returned to look outside the window until they arrived at the orphanage.

"Sora-nee-san, do you need any help unpacking," Sota asked.

"No, I can handle it myself. Thank you all for coming to greet me. I truly appreciate it," Sora replied. The kids looked at each other. Ryuu leaned down to Sora's ear-level.

"You are making the children uncomfortable, try to relax more," he whispered.

"Ah, sorry I'm just a little tired that's all. Thank you Sota-kun Nori-kun, Ren-chan, Keiko-chan, and Naoki-kun," Sora said with a small smile. The children lit up with small grins, loosening up a bit themselves. They then went into the house and left Sora and Ryuu to bring her things in. They arrived at her room and placed her things down.

"It's 3:00 o'clock. I would advise for you to start unpacking, but if wish to go out you may. I will be in my office on the second floor on the right. Please let me know if you need anything." Ryuu said.

"Hai, I will Takahiro-san," Sora said.

"… Ryuu, call me Ryuu."

"But isn't impolite to call people by their given name if they are not close?" Sora asked.

"It is, but you are now a resident as this house and we treat each other like family. As you may have seen when you walked in, you are the oldest of children to stay in the orphanage. Many of our kids either get adopted before they are twelve, so it is not common for us to have a high school student stay with us. Also, I find it awkward since everyone here calls me Ryuu or Ryuu-nii. So please call me by my given name," he clarified. Sora was surprised, but stiffly agreed. Ryuu then left and Sora went into her room to unpack. An hour later, she had finished putting stuff away. She decided that she wanted to familarize herself with the area, and thus asked Ryuu if she could leave. When he granted her permission, Sora then left the orphanage and walked around the neighborhood.

It was quiet and overall peaceful: she met some elderly people who greeted her, so she justly returned the favor. She then began to walk until she stumbled across a huge sports complex. Sora was about to turn away, until she noticed the sign that said, "Men's Junior High Volleyball Tournament." She was about to walk in but stopped herself.

'_What am I doing?'_

She was about to turn around, but stopped again, and slowly made her way inside the sports complex. She arrived at the courts where the tournament was being held, bringing up a rush of memories that made Sora smile a small, queasy smile. She remembered the warm-ups that she and her team did and how she would have a ,"talk," with them afterwards. She giggled and decided to take her seat. She then began to walk to the find the staircase to the bleachers when she overheard a conversation between some freshmen and a boy with spiky orange hair. The curious orange boy was wearing a lime green uniform and looked rather sick, judging by his hands clenched around his stomach.

"Hey, you guys," the boy said. The three freshmen stopped filling the team water bottles and turned around and looked at the sickly boy.

"Don't underestimate us. Soon as my stomach settles, I'll teach you guys a lesson, so be ready."

The other three boys looked at him for a minute and then burst into laughter.

"Is this guy serious," one of the boys said.

"He's got the captain label on him."

The boy in the green looked pretty upset or was that because he was in pain? Sora really did not want to involved, but she knows how it feel to be looked down upon. She wasn't exactly one who had an immaculate stature like the tall volleyball players the riddled the hallways.

"You guys have no right to say that," Sora said, stepping forwards. The group of boys stopped talking and turned their attention towards her, the boy in the green did the same.

"When you look down on someone who may look to be weak, you will only end up regretting your words."

The boys looked like they wanted to say something, but Sora's icy glare stopped them.

"Who is she," one of the boys whispered to his friend.

"I don't know, but she's really pretty," the boy whispered back to his friend. Sora huffed, a bit irritated that the first thing that comes out of a guy's mouth when they see her was, '_She's really pretty_,' rather than take her warning seriously. Rather than her words, most boys were focused on her long dark brown hair, fair skin, soft pink lips, and violet eyes.

She was about to say something, until she felt a strong presence behind her.

"Hey second years," a rough voice said.

She turned to see a boy who was wearing the same uniform as the younger ones: a blue and white jersey jacket, blue collar and white shirt, blue shorts and white tennis shoes. He had black colored hair with rather long fringe reaching into his face and navy-colored eyes.

His presence was like a king gracing his presence to his subjects.

"It's time for the official warm-up. Hurry it up," he said with a glare.

"I'm sorry, right away," his subjects cried with a hint of terror in their voices.

He looked at the boy with the green and one and made him flinch, then at Sora. He glared at her and she returned the favor. If he was trying to intimidate her, then he was sadly mistaken.

"Is there something you want to say," Sora asked with a hint of irritation in her voice. The boy didn't say anything and began to leave. Sora decided to walk away until she heard the freshman talking again.

"Hurry up, two more energy drinks," one of the freshmen said.

"We don't need to drink that much. Just look at our opponent," the friend said as he pointed the boy in the green, causing the other to laugh.

"That's for sure."

"What did you say," the boy in the green said angrily. Sora was irritated now. She hit her fist against the wall, which stopped everyone in their place. Everyone turned their attention towards her.

"You brats are still far away from being great players. You think your all high and mighty just because you strong. Cocky people like you, really tick me off."

"You guys. You're not even on the bench. You think you're good enough to look down on your opponent? Don't ride the coattails of your school's reputation," the tall boy said glaring at the boys.

'_I guess he was agreeing with me,'_ Sora thought.

"G-Gomenasai," one of the boys cried and ran back to the team. Sora was surprised and looked at the boy.

"You, mind your own business," he barked. A vein popped onto Sora's head.

"Learn to control your team and I wouldn't have had to say anything," she snapped back.

Sora exhaled sharply through her nose before walking over towards the boy in the green, still clutching his stomach.

"Are you ok?"

"Eh? Uh, Hai. Thanks for standing up for me, but I was going to tell them a thing or two myself, too," he answered meekly as he looked at the taller boy, hiding behind Sora when he caught the taller boy's attention.

"You're not even physically ready. Don't talk big. That's why they look down on you," he quipped.

"What did you say," the boy in the green growled.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Making memories?" The boy said.

"I came here to win. Nothing else!"

The two continued to argue, with Sora watching from the side, somewhat impressed that the smaller player did not stand down when the taller one degraded him. The taller boy then left and the boy in the green watched him leave.

"You have some guts," Sora said. The boy in the green turned around.

"Eh, really?!"

"Un, but the other boy was right. You're physically not ready," Sora answered. The boy felt like an arrow just went through his heart.

"I understand that. Demo, I have to give it my all," he said innocently. Sora's eyes widen. She has not met anyone like him before. She could tell that he was not physically ready to participate in the tournament, but his drive to win made Sora smile.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Hinata Shouyou! Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you Hinata. I'm Mizuki Sora," she said with a small bow.

"Nee, Mizuki-san, did you come to watch?"

"Hai, I just moved her from America and just kind of ended up here," Sora said.

"You should come watch me and my team play! We're not very good, but I know we can win," Hinata said excitedly. Sora giggled: Hinata reminded her how she was when she was just starting with her team.

"Sure. But shouldn't you get back to your team instead of talking to me," Sora asked. Hinata scrambled for a minute and then ran to join his team.

* * *

The first match was Yukigaoka Junior High vs. Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High. Sora saw Hinata and his team and then looked back at other team and notice the boy who was glaring at her. She could tell that was huge gap between the team as far as physical abilities. As the match went on, Kitagawa took the first set with no problem. Sora watch the winning team and shook her head.

"_They may be good, but they are still far from being a team. Especially the glaring guy."_

As the second set started, Sora sat at the edge of her seat and made mental notes about both teams, especially when she saw Hinata jump high in the air to spike the ball. Of course, the blockers blocked it back, but that didn't discourage him. The small boy kept trying, which made Sora get up from her seat and lean over the balcony. The match soon ended with Kitagawa as the winners. Sora was about leave until the tall boy started yelling at Hinata.

"What were you doing for the last three years?!"

Sora finally snapped.

"What right do you have to talk," she yelled. Everyone turned their attention towards her.

"Stay out of-" the tall boy was about to finish, until Sora jumped off the balcony and landed on her feet, sending a jolt through both Hinata as well as the setter.

"M-mizuki-sa-an," Hinata stuttered, still shellshocked that she had actually jumped off of a balcony and landed on her feet.

"Not everyone can have the same training as you, but they find the courage to stand tall! He may lack in training and he may never get better, but I know one day, he will rise above you," Sora yelled. The players still on the floor were shocked. No one has ever told off the 'King of the Court.'

"What is your name?" Sora asked angrily, glaring sharply up at the, '_King_.'

"Kageyama Tobio, you," Kageyama asked angrily.

"Mizuki Sora and you better start treating your teammates better or they will stop following you, _King_," Sora said before walking away. She made for the entrance to leave when she heard a voice calling her name. She turned around and was Hinata.

"Mizuki-san, umm… Arigato!"

Sora looked at him and sighed.

"Don't thank me yet. You better start getting better so you can beat that guy."

* * *

_At the Orphanage_

"Welcome back, Sora-nee-san," Nori happily chirped.

"I'm back," Sora said as she took off her shoes and put on her slippers. Ryuu then came into the hallways and walked towards Sora.

"Welcome back, Sora. Please come with me," Ryuu said. Sora nodded and followed behind him. The walked into the dinner room only to hear shots of confetti go off in front of her.

"Welcome Sora-nee-san/san to our home," a group of kids said. Sora was shocked. There was a banner with her name on it and a strawberry short cake.

"What is all this?"

"The kids thought it would be a good idea," Ryuu answered. Sora looked around and tears of happiness fell from her eyes.

"Thank you all so much. I love it," she said with a gentle smile as she gave each of the kids a hug. The party lasted for a while and then it was time for bed for the little ones. Sora helped them get ready and put them to bed; after she put Sota to bed, she left his room and then walked to her room and got herself ready for bed. Sora just stared out the window at the sky. She wondered why she stood up for Hinata just a few hours prior.

Was it out of an impulse or what it because he reminded her of that time?

Sora couldn't help but feel excited, when she thought about Hinata's spike. His presence was like a bird spreading his wings in the air, and needless to say, she was mesmerized. She felt a sort of exhilaration that she hasn't felt in such a long time.

She pushed the thought to the side, and snapped her eyes closed, struggling to find sleep.

* * *

The next morning, she got up early to go for a run: for, even though she wasn't currently playing volleyball, she kept up with daily training as a sort of habit. She stumbled upon the sports complex again and decided to go inside. She went to the volleyball courts that were still up and looked around.

Sora remembered the time when she could hear the crowd cheering her school's name. The squeaking of shoes moving across the court. The feeling of bouncing the ball in her hand. She then remembered the car crash and opened her eyes. She had volleyball in her hand. She looked down at it and then at the court.

'_Is this truly what you want,'_

Sora began to get in position. She then remembered what she said yesterday to Kageyama yesterday and threw the ball in the air.

'_Go and fly, Sora!'_

She jumped into the air and spiked the ball over the net. This is what she has been feeling. The feeling of flying once again. Sora ran back to the orphanage and went upstairs to Ryuu's office. She opened the door and slammed her hand down on his desk.

"Ryuu-nii-san… What high school is close with a good volleyball team?" Sora asked. Ryuu blinked a couple time and then open one of the desk drawers. He pulled out a file and handed it to Sora.

"This school was very well-known for their volleyball team back in the day. But has fallen since then. If I am not mistaken, their nickname is the 'Fallen Crows.' The school is called Karasuno."

Sora looked through the documents and then handed them back to Ryuu.

"I want to go there and join the volleyball team."

* * *

_A year later_

"Sora-nee-chan! I can't find my ribbon," Keiko yelled down the hall.

"Hold on," Sora yelled back. She did a final check of herself. Uniform looks good, hair is tied up in pony-tail, and black stockings are not ripped. Ok, Sora was ready for school. She then went to help Keiko find her ribbon. After that, she then left for school. When she arrived, Sora looked up at her new school. A smile was placed on her face and she then went to go find her classroom. After class was finished, it was time to sign up for clubs. Sora signed up for the Volleyball club right away and then she went to change into her gym clothes. She wanted to go to the gym to start practicing, but when she arrived, the door was already open and she heard voices. She took a deep breath and walked in, but with one step in, she saw two familiar faces.

"… Hinata Shouyou, Kageyama Tobio… What are you two doing here?"

The two turned around.

"Mizuki-san?!" Hinata yelled.

Kageyama's eyes widened, his pouting, stoic mouth dropping into a hardy frown.

_This was their fateful meeting._

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I hoped you liked this story! Please leave you review below!


	2. Chapter 2: Destiny

This is just a update of chapter 2. If you are not new to the story, chapter 10 will be here soon! If you are not knew, please enjoy chapter 2 :)

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Chapter Two: Destiny

…

Sora could not believe what she was seeing.

The two boys that she meet at volleyball tournament over a year ago, were standing _right in front_ of her. She smacked her face to see if this was a terrible dream, but sadly she was _very_ much awake.

"Mizuki-san, you go here," Hinata asked with a shocked expression.

"Yeah… uh, why is he here," Sora asked as she pointed to Kageyama.

"I met you two last year… Mizuki Sora and… you, I don't remember your name," Kageyama said as he looked at Hinata.

"My name is Hinata Shouyou. You probably don't remember the team you beat in the first match!"

"I remember you very well and I remember you too," Kageyama growled, turning his glare from Hinata to Sora.

"I hope you have changed since the last time we met," Sora snipped.

"What, you wanna fight," Hinata asked when Kageyama's frown deepened, already lowering into a fight stance.

"You were lousy and you were a loud mouth," Kageyama barked. Sora's brow darkened towards the setter, a vein beginning to pop from her temple when Hinata nearly fell backwards as if an arrow punctured his heart.

"D-Don't make fun of me. Sure, we got slaughtered by you guys. Next time, I won't lose," Hinata returned once he regained composure. Sora smiled at Kageyama's momentarily stilled shock, and patted Hinata on the shoulder.

"You still have some guts." A hint of blush was on Hinata's face.

"Hontoni?"

"Un, just choose your battle wisely," she said calmly before straightening up, "But anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I came to get my revenge on this guy! But how can I do that when he's here," Hinata asked scratching his hair.

"That's true, why aren't you at another school with stronger players," Sora asked looking at Kageyama.

"The strongest school in the prefecture… rejected me," he said, turning his head away. There was a small silence for a minute.

"You didn't make it," Sora and Hinata asked in unison.

Even though you're the King of the Court," Hinata asked.

Kageyama's glare darkened a few notches, causing Sora and Hinata's face to pale.

"Don't call me that!"

'_Ok, I will never call him that! As long as he doesn't make me mad,'_ Sora grimaced. She then heard voices walking towards the gym. She turned around and saw three males walking in, all wearing black sweat suits and white tennis shoes. One of them had light gray hair and brown eyes with a mole atop his left cheekbone. He was average height, but had leaner build. The other had short dark hair and dark brown eyes. He was taller than Sora, around 5'9, and had a bigger body this Kageyama. The last boy had a shaved head and sharp eyes that made him look like a delinquent. He was around the same height as the boy with the gray hair and a lean body.

"Hello," Kageyama greeted. The guy with the shaved head just glared at Kageyama.

"Hey, hey, hey. Who said you guys could-" the boy with the shaved head stopped when the boy with the black hair pulled him back by his jersey collar.

"You're Kageyama," he asked.

"Osu."

"Glad you're here," he greeted, tugging the delinquent-looking individual's collar when he tried to contort his face again.

"You're quiet tall," the boy with the gray hair stated with a small smile.

"He needs an initiation, Suga-san!"

"_That guy must be the captain and the guy with the gray hair must be the vice-captain. Then the guy with the shaved head must be a player." _Sora thought.

"Osu," Hinata yelled, directing the attention on both he and Sora.

'_Great, I was just going to wait to say something,'_ Sora thought. She then noticed the guy with the shaved head looking at her from behind the grey-haired third year.

"Who is she? She's kind of cute," he whispered to the Vice-Captain before being pushed forwards towards her. He sucked in his mouth and leaned in close to Sora's face.

"Who are you," he stumbled out a little too loudly: a sharp contrast from his intimidating demeanor from before.

"M-Mizuki Sora desu," she said nervously.

"Mizuki Sora? Are you the American girl who was requested to join the team by the principal," the boy with the gray hair asked.

"Hai." Ryuu knew the principal of the school very well, since he went to Karasuno when he was her age. He asked Sora if she had any video of her playing, which she did since her parents recorded her matches. Ryuu then sent the video to the principal and a week later, the principal gave Ryuu some documents to sign that would allow Sora to participate.

"Eh?! Mizuki-san, you play volleyball," Hinata asked, Kageyama's eyes widening slightly in response.

"Hai. I've been playing since I was a kid."

"Uso! I had no idea," Hinata chirped.

"Then, are you Hinata Shoyo," the assumed Captain asked.

"Hai!"

"I'm a little surprised… I see. So you three are here at Karasuno," he said expectantly.

"Um…" Hinata said with a confused expression.

"We saw your match last year and we saw Mizuki-san's video," the boy with the gray hair said.

"You're way short and sucked bad, but you've got guts. Especially, you," the boy with the shaved head said pointing at Sora.

"Eh?"

"You're the girl who jumped of the balcony and told off Kageyama here."

"Eh. That was you," the boy with the back hair asked surprised.

"Hai. I just couldn't let this guy say whatever he wanted," Sora said as she pointing at a glaring Kageyama behind her.

"What were you doing at the tournament," the boy with the gray hair asked.

"I accidently stumbled upon the sports complex and I met Hinata and Kageyama-san while I was there."

"Sokka, it must nice to know someone since miles away from your home."

"Hai, I felt homesick and was sad for a while until I saw Hinata's jumps" Sora said.

"Un, his jumps _are_ amazing," the boy with the gray hair said with a smile.

"But you haven't grown much since," the boy with the shaved head said grinning.

"I may be little, but I can jump! I'll be Karasuno's ace," Hinata hollered.

"Hey, hey. This newbie say he's gonna be the ace? You've got some nerve," the boy with the shaved head said with a scary smile.

"It's good to be ambitious, right," asked the Vice Captain.

"Un, I think it make everything interesting," Sora chirped with a smile.

"I'll do my best," Hinata said innocently.

"You. If you want to be the ace, I hope you've improved. If you goof around, you'll waste another three years," Kageyama barked.

"What did you say," Hinata growled, both Sora and himself shooting daggers at him.

"You have no right to talk, _King_," Sora snipped.

"Why must you say that, Kageyama," the Captain asked tiredly.

"I'll play with all my might. But… But don't tell me everything I've done is a waste," Hinata shouted.

"Anyone can become great, not matter what," Sora said determinedly.

"Guys... You know, you're not enemies any more. Volleyball is about teamwork-" the Captain tried to explain, before he was cut off by Hinata.

"I'll challenge you!"

"Hey! Daichi-san is still talking," the boy with the shaved head barked.

"Oi, you two need to listen," Sora growled. But that didn't stop the two boys from staring down one another.

"Challenge me to what," Kageyama asked with an irritated tone.

"Volleyball, what else?!"

"How do you expect to challenge me one-on-one?"

"I won't be alone! I have Mizuki-san on my side," Hinata returned pointing towards the girl before she smacked him across the back of his head.

"Ouch!"

"Don't bring me into this," Sora yelled.

"Listen, damn it," the boy with the shaved head yelled. Sora then noticed that the Captain's face was starting to darken with annoyance.

'_Great, these two are going to get us in trouble!'_

"What's the commotion, volleyball club," a voice asked. Everyone apart from Hinata and Kageyama looked to see the principal walking towards them.

"The Dean!"

"Sensei," the Vice Captain corrected.

"You better not be fighting," the principal warned.

"Of course not. Just a friendly rivalry. Right," Daichi-san pressed sternly as he looked at the three freshmen. Sora nodded furiously, but Hinata and Kageyama were still glaring at each other.

"This Dean likes to make trouble, so keep it down," the boy with the shaved whispered.

"Oi, you two! Stop glaring at each other already," Sora whispered, but to no avail.

"Serve! I'll return them all," Hinata yelled as he pointed to Kageyama.

"Chotto matte, Hinata!" Sora tried to stop the small boy, but was just nudged to the side when he lowered into a receiving stance.

"I was only able to get one of your serves last year. But, I'm not the same person as last year," Hinata said stonily.

Sora looked at Hinata and observed him. From the last time she saw him, he was not physically ready, but from what she could tell, he has been training since his muscles were firm and his body was kind of built. His legs were strong, due to his jumping skills.

'_Maybe he has changed.'_

"Not the same as last year, huh," Kageyama mumbled under his breath.

Sora sighed, unable to believe these two, idiot first years were really doing this. But, she had no right to talk because the same thing happened when she back in America with her best friend and one of the freshman. Just thinking about it made her head throb.

"I'm not the same as last year, either," Kageyama returned, picking up a ball.

"Now, Now, guys. Let's not get carried away," Daichi said, trying to take control of the situation.

"Senpai, I don't think they are listening to you," Sora stated, watching the two. Kageyama had already bounced the ball a couple of time, then threw the ball high in the air, following with a strong jump.

'_Jump serve? I don't think he could do that last year,' _Sora thought. Hinata moved out the way and fell to the ground.

"Power : 50%. Accuracy : 70%. Speed : 80%," Sora stated.

"Eh. You saw all that," the boy with the gray hair asked.

"Hai, it basically perfect, too perfect." Sora said with a small frown.

'_Saa, what will you do, Hinata.' _

"How's that different from last year," Kageyama barked. Hinata glared at him and got back up.

"One more."

"Hey. Enough is enough," Daichi yelled.

"They don't listen to their captain. This could be a problem." the teacher said. Sora looked at him.

"Oi, what his problem," Sora asked,

"Who knows." The boy with the gray hair shrugged. They then turned their attention back to Kageyama and Hinata, both gearing up for another serve.

"It's going to the corner this time," Sora said as it curved. Hinata quickly got to it, but when he tried to return it, it bounced off his face and flew towards the teacher. Sora jumped to the side to try and deflect it, but she missed and soon, the ball hit the teacher on the side of his face and his wig came off. Everyone went pale and the wig safely landed on Daichi's head.

"He's wearing a wing," Kageyama asked.

"You just noticed," Sora said trying to hold back her laughter.

Everyone at the entrance ceremony could tell," Hinata whispered.

"You guys! Sh-shut up," the boy with the shaved head said trying to hold back his laughter. Daichi took the wing off his head and handed back to the teacher.

"Tanaka, you shut up, too," the boy with the gray hair scolded. The teacher turned his head away and requested to speak with Daichi. They both then left and outside to talk.

"Fortunately, he's not punishing us. And no apologies necessary," Daichi said upon his return. Everyone sighed with relief.

"Sawamura-san, there is more to it, right," Sora asked.

"Hai. Providing you all agree that you saw nothing."

Everyone stiffed up, except for Hinata and Kageyama who began to glare at one another.

"You two are real idiots." Sora said.

"What was that," Kageyama yelled. Hinata just pouted at her.

"It's both of your faults for be so stubborn," Sora returned.

"Don't put me in the same category as him. It's all because he couldn't hit a serve! He sucks! What's different from last year? Are you kidding me? I was dumb to even think it," Kageyama shouted.

"You talk too much," Hinata pushed back.

"Hey. I want you to listen to me," Daichi scolded.

"I don't know what your motive was for attending Karasuno. But I'm sure you came here with victory on your mind," he started once he received the first year's attention.

"Hai!"

"Of course."

"There's no other reason," Sora said.

"Karasuno was one of the top teams in the prefecture till a few years ago. It happened only once, but we even went to nationals. Now we rank at best in the prefecture's top 8. Neither weak nor strong. Other schools call us things like-"

"The Fallen Rivals and Unflying Crows," Sora interjected, earning the group's attention.

"Ah, you must have done a lot of research on us."

"No, I heard from…a friend."

Sora looked down at her feet. She did not want to tell them that she lives in an orphanage yet. One, because she does not know them well enough and two because she did not want them to pity her.

"That's right. I remember well when Karasuno competed in spring nationals. Students from my neighborhood, I'd pass by high school students competed against the country's best teams, in a huge gymnasium in Tokyo. It gave me goosebumps," Daichi explained, eyes sharper from before and full of determination.

"We're going to go there again."

Sora began to remember the feeling of the crowd's cheers and standing next to her teammates, her mouth conflicted on which emotions to portray.

"I want to go…" Sora started, looking down at her feet. The boys looked at her. She lifted her head up and they saw her fervid purple eyes begin glow.

"I want to fly there!"

The shaved headed boy and the gray haired boy glanced at each other and grinned.

"Me too! I want to become Karasuno's Ace," Hinata yelled with excitement.

"With your current level you won't be able to do anything but get in the way," Kageyama snipped.

"Like you have any right to talk. You haven't changed much, _King_," Sora growled.

"I said never to call me that!"

"Demo, there are many other teams that are trying to go to nationals. Do you honestly think this school get to nationals," Sora asked. Daichi looked at her, a little taken back that she was being so straightforward.

"Don't worry about that. I mean what I say. For us to make that happen, our team has to be unified. And we can't have the dean keeping an eye on us," Daichi said and walked towards the three freshmen, stone-faced with a shadowed expression. Tanaka and the boy with the gray hair were moving out the way.

'_What? Why do they look so… Ah…' _

Sora's face turned white as snow.

"I'm not telling you guys to become buddies. Even if you were enemies on opposite sides of the net in junior high, I need you to understand that now, you're on the same side," Daichi said with an angry tone that made Hinata and Kageyama's faces pale.

"And you, I don't know your relationship with these two, but for some reason, you don't get along with Kageyama," Daichi added, causing Sora to flinch.

"Do you three get it?" Daichi's expression sharpened, sending shivers down the first years' spines.

"No matter how outstanding you are, no matter how willing you are to give it your all, and no matter how much you want to fly, if you fail to get along, and hinder your teammates… You're not wanted," Daichi yelled at them and gave back their applications.

Well, he gave Sora's back nicely, but put Hinata and Kageyama's towards their foreheads and pushed them out.

"Chotto, Sawamura-senpai-" Sora was about to say something when he gave her a menacing glare. She shut her mouth after that.

"Until you three realize that you're teammates, you won't be participating in this club," Daichi yelled and closed the door. The three stood in front of the door for a minute, until the realization sunk in.

"AHHH!" They yelled in unison.

"What does it mean to realize that we're teammates? How do you do it," Hinata asked as he looked at Kageyama and Sora.

"I don't know. I've always got along with my team back home," Sora said still shocked from what just happened. Hinata then began plead to let him back in the club.

"Please allow me to join. I want to play volleyball. I will get along with Kageyama!"

Oi, Hinata, even if you beg them, he's not just-"

"I apologies. Please allow me to participate. I will get along with these two," Kageyama hollered, joining in alongside Hinata. Sora smacked her brow and shook her head.

'_This two are just so hardheaded.'_

The door slid open and Daichi poked his head out. But it only showed a blank scary face that sent shivers down Sora's spine.

"Are you sure you mean that," he asked.

"Please Sawamura-senpai. We can get along, can't you give us a test that can show how much we really mean it," Sora asked. Daichi looked at her and then at the two boys behind her.

"If I had to cooperate with these two in a match, I'd rather receive, spike, and toss all by myself," Kageyama huffed, looking to the side with an angry expression.

"How can you say that," Hinata and Sora barked in unison. Daichi soon began to laugh, earning confused faces from the three freshmen.

"I can't believe you just told me your true feelings. But I think that's a good thing. Still, in volleyball, you can't drop the ball, you can't hold the ball, and one player can't touch the ball twice. How do you plan to play by yourself," Daichi asked Kageyama. When he did not answer, Daichi grinned and then slammed the door back shut.

"Are you _stupid_," Sora asked. Kageyama just flinched.

* * *

Later that evening, practice was still going on in the gym. The three freshmen just sat outside the gym and tried to think of a plan: Sora was on the wall with her hand under her chin, Kageyama was sitting on one of the steps, and Hinata was looking into the gym window, watching the team practice.

"The court and ball are in front of my eyes. And it sucks that I'm not allowed in…"

"Hinata, stop complaining," Sora said with a irritated tone.

"Dammit! I have no time to waste like this. I'm gonna to make them let me in," Kageyama said angrily as he tried opening the door.

"And what will that do? You already heard him, we can't join unless we learn to be unified," Sora said.

"Demo, I have to do-"

"-Do what? The same thing is going to happen. What we need to do if figure out how to get along. That is our main objective," Sora explained sternly.

"How are we going to do that," Hinata asked.

"A challenge," Sora answered with a grin.

"We challenge them to a volleyball match. A three on three match. If we win, they let us in."

"If we team up, we'll appear friendly no matter what how we feel," Kageyama clarified.

"Eh? We're going to challenge our senpais? What if we lose," Hinata asked with a worried tone.

"We're not going to lose. You have me on side," Kageyama stated bluntly.

Sweat dropped down Sora's head. _'Is this guy for real?'_

"You just need to do the best you can… and you… Are you any good," he asked as he looked Sora and Hinata.

"I guess. I'm not sure…" Sora shrugged.

"How do you not know," Hinata asked with a confused tone.

"Back home, it didn't matter if you could were good or bad. We all had one thing in mind and that was to win," Sora explained.

"Did you actually win anything with that attitude," Kageyama scoffed.

"Of course we did! We were defending champs for three years when I was in middle school and we won seven tournaments. We would have won an eighth if…" Sora stopped talking and looked down at her feet. She began to remember that dreadful day when she lost her parents. Hinata and Kageyama looked at her.

"Mizuki-san," Hinata asked worriedly. Sora realized what was going on and shook her head.

"Any, I'm good since I was Captain when I started middle school," Sora said.

"Eh~ Hontoni," Hinata asked excitedly.

"Yup, and my team was good too," Sora explained.

"Then, I guess you will be ok. But you just need to do you need to do your best and not get in my way," Kageyama said as he looked at Hinata, instigating yet _another_ argument. Sora sighed.

"Um…" a foreign voice said. The three looked and a rather beautiful girl was in front of them: dark back—almost indigo—hair, a distinctive mole on her lower chin, glasses and dark blue eyes.

'_Wow she's really pretty,'_ Sora muse with a hint of blush on her face. She looked at the boys to see them just standing, wide-eyed. Sora snickered.

"Can you let me through," the girl asked. The three did what they were told and let her pass. She walked pass them and went into the gym. Hinata then became red as a tomato, which made Kageyama jump and Sora to laugh harder.

The three then waited for practice to be officially over to execute the plan. They stood side by side and opened the door.

"Captain! Let us challenge you to a match," they yelled in unison. The whole club looked at them.

"The three of us against the you senpais," Hinata said.

"Are these guys for real," Tanaka asked, bursting into laughter.

"We'll prove that we can cooperate as a team," they said together after a quiet, '_One-Two_,' countdown. Tanaka just kept laughing.

"I heard them say 'one-two'…" the Vice Captain chuckled.

"But I can't say I dislike these guys. Especially Sora-chan. Sora-chan is pretty cute, and spunky," Tanaka chirped. Sora blushed.

"What if you lose," Daichi asked. Hinata flinched, but Sora and Kageyama were not backing down.

"We'll endure any penalty," Sora and Kageyama yelled in unison.

"Hmm… Then now's the time. There are two other first-year application besides you guys. It'll be a four-on-four match against them. We always play this every year, just to see what the new members are made of," Daichi explained.

"But how does it become four-on-four? Who's our other team member?" Hinata asked as he counted Sora and Kageyama. Daichi looked at Tanaka.

"Tanaka. I want you to be on Hinata's side."

"What? Me?!"

"You don't _dis_like them, right? Also, Sora-chan is on the team."

"Captain, what is that supposed to mean," Sora asked with a raised hand and a downturned mouth.

"Nothing, Nothing at all," the Vice Captain said as he tried to call her down.

"That doesn't mean I want to play with them," Tanaka complained.

"I see. I thought you'd be the only one here who could discipline these troublemakers. And, this would be a chance for you to impress Sora with your skills." Daichi said. Tanaka's ear got bigger and he grinned.

"Oh, well! I guess it can't be helped. I'll do it," Tanaka said proudly, shinging his nails and knuckles against his chest. He then jumped down from the stairs and landed in front of Hinata. "Aren't you glad," he said patting his shoulder.

"And if you lose the match, as long as we third-years are here, Kageyama will never play setter," Daichi said. Kageyama's eyes widened.

"That's all," Hinata asked.

"Why is that," Sora asked.

"That's because our team can't win with a s self-centered setter. A guy who banks on his skills, but loses," Daichi clarified.

"He's got a point… but," Sora looked at Kageyama who was glaring and Sawamura.

"What's the matter? I'm not ejecting you from the club. You'd be good in other position, too, wouldn't you," Daichi asked with a provocative tone.

"That's enough," Sora shouted.

"Huh? I thought-" Daichi stopped talking when he saw Sora's eyes turn a rather menacing deep violet.

"I will admit that you are right about this guy being self-centered. But depriving him of his position is really cruel!"

Kageyama looked at her, admittedly amazed that she had the gall to defend him right after yelling at him.

"Mizuki-san," Kageyama started.

"We will win! We're going to make sure of it!"

Daichi grinned, as if he could _feel_ the determination in her voice.

"Go ahead and try. The match will be this Saturday," he said grinning before he closed the door.

"Why did you do that," Kageyama asked.

"Are you stupid?" You want to be a setter, right," Sora asked. He nodded.

"Then, I'm going to help you win. Don't get me wrong, you're not my favorite person to help, but I am not going to let them take away a position that someone loves." She crossed her arms and finalized her statement with a small stomp, grinning widely. Kageyama's eyes widened before he looked away.

"Me too! I want to play volleyball no matter what," Hinata said excitedly. Sora giggled.

"I do too. I'm guessing you're like me Hinata, a spiker?"

"Un, the feeling of going in the in air is amazing. Better than being a setter."

Kageyama walked up to Hinata and grabbed him by the jacket collar.

"Don't look down on setters! The setter is the team's control tower! It's the setter that handles the ball the most in a match. It's the most dominant role! It's the coolest!"

"Huh?" Hinata looked at him with confusion.

"And your favorite, the spike. You can't shoot without the setter," he pressed.

"But setter looks difficult, and it's not very flashy," Hinata murmured.

"Oi, Kageyama, stop it," Sora barked, trying to realease his hand from Hinata, sweatshirt. He let go of Hinata.

"Both of you stop arguing. This is not the time. We need to figure out a place to practice!"

Kageyama took a deep breath to calm down.

"Hey. We better do something about that sorry receive of yours by Saturday," Kageyama huffed as he pointed to Hinata.

"Sorry? Well, we can't use the gym."

"That's true, what are going to do," Sora said as she tried to think.

"Oh, yes," a loud voice said. The three turned around to see a rather impish-looking Tanaka leaning back towards the window.

"Morning practice is at _7:00 am tomorrow_, right," Tanaka drawled, trying not to make his intentions too obvious. Sora grinned.

"Jaa, tomorrow we should… wait a minute," Sora yelled. Two boys were ignoring her and walked away.

"5:00 am." Kageyama said.

"Don't be late: Hinata said. The two boys then began to walk faster and then started to race. Sora sighed.

"Why did this happen to me," she puffed, shaking her head, flinching when she looked back up to see the boys racing back towards her.

"Mizuki-san!"

"W-What," she asked kind of shocked that they came back, as well as they were able to breathe out her name in perfect unison after a hundred meter sprint.

"Let us take you home," the boys said in unison. Sora blinked a couple of times to make sure she heard them correctly.

"Me?"

"It's late, so we thought that it would dangerous for a girl to walk home by herself," Hinata nodded.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself on my own," Sora said grinning.

"Demo-" Kageyama tried to say something, but Sora stopped him.

"-I appreciate it, but my home is close by, so there's no need," she said as she brushed past them.

* * *

The next morning, Sora got up at 4:00 am to get ready for their secret practice. She put on her light blue sweats, her white tennis shoes, and grabbed her light green duffle bag. She then left the orphanage and headed to the school. When she got there, Hinata and Kageyama were already at the gym.

"Is the door locked," she asked.

"Ah, we can't get in," Hinata explained.

"I was afraid of that," Sora said with a sigh.

"Then find a window you can get in from," Kageyama suggested.

"We'll get in trouble if we're caught. Are you stupid," Hinata asked.

"5:00 am sure is rough," a voice said. The three freshmen turned around to see Tanaka walking towards them.

"Tanaka-san?"

"Get out of here before 7:00 am," Tanaka said, swinging the key around his finger.

"Tanaka-san," Hinata yelled with excitement.

"Thank you," Kageyama added.

"Arigato Tanaka-senpai," Sora said with excitement. Tanaka blushed and grabbed Sora's hands.

"Please say that again!"

"Eh?"

"Please say 'Tanaka-senpai,' again!"

"Um… Tanaka-senpai," Sora said warily. Tanaka held both his hands to his heart.

"Now you two! Say, 'Tanaka-senpai!'"

"Tanaka-senpai," Hinata and Kageyama shouted.

"Once more! All together," Tanaka said howling with laughter.

"Tanaka-senpai!"

_Yesterday_

"_You're stricter than usual. Daichi-san."_

"_Do you have some special reason in mind?" _

_Daichi was quiet for a minute before he spoke._

"_You guys saw their match last year. Kageyama had outstanding ability as a junior high student… But his ability hasn't yielded any results. And he's self-centered, which means he'll repeat the same mistakes as in junior high. He'll get in the way of the team for sure. But what's different from junior high… Is that Hinata is on the same team now with Kageyama." he explained._

"_Hinata? Well, he's sort of a ball of athletic reflexes, but…"_

"_Yeah. He's far removed from his true potential, but his rare speed and reflexes and his jump… He didn't get the chance to play with a setter in junior high. And Kageyama is seeking a fast spiker who can hit his tosses. Those guys are imperfect on their own… But their abilities together… If we can utilize that combination, then Karasuno will make explosive improvement." _

"_Then, what about Mizuki Sora," Tanaka asked. _

"_You remember the video that was shown to us. She is the key to their success."_

"_The key," Tanaka asked with a question mark shaping his lips. _

"_She is an all-rounder who brings out the best in her teammates. Also, her will to win will bring together as a team. They could learn a thing or two from her. With those three on the same side… No one will be able to touch them. Don't you agree?" _

_Present_

Tanaka looked back at the three freshmen. Kageyama and Hinata were in the midst of a fight to see who will go through the door, while Sora just stood there trying to stay out their way.

"Hey. There's no time-" Tanaka tried to say, before Sora kicked them both inside the gym.

"You two, stop messing around!"

'_These little bastards have more problems than teamwork,' _Tanaka mused, turning on the lights.

"Ah, the gymnasium," Hinata hummed excitedly.

"You were here yesterday," Tanaka drawled. Sora giggled and then looked at the two boys. They get on her nerves and irritate her, but… those two together are a force to reckoned with. She wasn't stupid. She saw that the tournament last year, and if they were somehow brought together…

"Ne, Hinata… Kageyama," Sora said looking at the two boys with burning eyes.

"Let's do this!"

"Ah," both boys sang out in harmony.

Tanaka looked at the three and grinned.

'_Maybe it was her destiny to come here.'_

* * *

Please leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3: New Friendships

Hi everyone!

I would first like to thank all the people have reviewed, favorrite, and/or followed An Angel's Wings.

I would like tell everyone that I will not be working on this story alone. Bergliot will be helping me and making sure I keep my story on track. She helped me write this chapter and will be helping me edit and giving me ideas for the story. I hope you like it!

Well, let's get on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 3: New Friendships

It was a wonderful morning: the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Sora was rather content with the ways things were fairing… All right, in reality, Sora was far from feeling wonderful or even content: in fact, she was unbelievably irate, _and_ angry. To be fair, it was going well, at first; but towards then end she found her mood being trampled on repeatedly by her two male companions.

First, Kageyama and Hinata were arguing the whole time. Not even little barbs once or twice. The. Whole, Time.

Second, they thought they were discovered, but it was actually Sugawara who came in to help. Really, a heart attack would have done no one any good in this situation at hand.

Third, Hinata kept begging for Kageyama to send him a toss. Yet the boy bearing the title, 'King of the Court,' did little but berate Hinata.

But what really got under her skin was that Kageyama only allowed her to serve the whole time.

What, did he really think she wasn't any good? What sort of reason did he have to deny her any game time, sticking her in the back at the baseline?

When she opened the door to her classroom, nobody was there. Sora sighed. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be at the school. She took her seat and took a book out from her bag. But the boiling thoughts about what happened that morning overwhelmed her, thus forcing her to slam her book down on her desk.

"_Kageyama… you bastard!"_ Sora mentally yelled.

"Excuse me…" a soft voice said. Slightly startled, Sora gained her composure and turned around. It was a girl with light pink hair that was tied up into two pigtails and brown eyes. She had smooth skin, a slim body, soft pink lips, and faired around what Sora assumed to be 5'3 for her height.

"Can I help you," Sora asked, boring holes into the small girl.

"Ummm… Yes…. I mean no… I mean…" the girl mumbled, her demeanor beginning to grow panicked. Sora just sighed.

"If you don't need anything from me, then can you please leave me alone," she asked with an irritated voice.

"I-I'm sorry… but I wanted to…" The girl grew quiet. Intrigued by her sudden silence, Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Want to…" Sora pressed as she looked at the girl with a confused look. The girl took a deep breath in before she finally exploded.

"I want to know what you are reading!" The girl yelled. Sora blinked a couple of times and then busted into laughter. Not entirely the reaction the petite girl was looking for, tears had begun to run down her face and to avoid any further or Sora's bombastic laughter, she began to walk away.

"Wait, wait, wait. Sorry, but I have never met a girl to act so nervous to ask someone about a book," Sora said with a smile.

"G-Gomenasai, but you were looking at book so intensely, I wanted to know," the girl said softly.

"Why?" Sora asked with a confused book.

"W-Well, ummmm…" The girl began to fidget. Sora giggled and patted the girl on the head.

"What's your name?" Sora asked.

"Me? Ummm… Hikari Chou…" Chou said. Sora looked at the girl expectantly.

"You're in my class, right?" Sora asked.

"Hai! I can't believe that you remember me!" Chou said excitedly.

"Well… I kind of remember you from yesterday because you fell down during introductions." Sora explained. Chou had dropped her head, but perked right back up within an instant.

"I'm glad you sort of remembered me though," Chou said with an innocent smile.

"_She really cute."_ Sora thought as she giggled.

"Well, I am Mizuki Sora. Nice to meet you." Sora said she extended her hand. Chou looked at the Sora's hand and smiled brightly, giving her hand a soft shake.

"Nice to meet you to, Mizuki-san!" Chou exclaimed happily. Sora smiled back at the girl.

The two then began to chat for a while until class started: nothing rather tedious, just indulgent topics any two teenage females would talk about. Chou went to the front of the class and took her seat. Class then began, the subject in question being English. Of course, Sora being from America, and thus fluent, excelled in English; but then again, she was always good in school. She had never received a low grade in any of her classes except home economics. Sadly, despite her athletic prowess, and knack for linguistics, she wasn't a very good cook. However, desserts were no problem since her mom taught her how to make sweets for special holidays like Father's Day or one of her parents' birthday.

That afternoon, Sora and Chou were walking down the hallway to go to the café, when she noticed a volleyball ball in the air. She stopped and looked out the window to see who it was.

"_Hinata and Sugawara-senpai?"_ Sora thought in her head.

"Sora-san?" Chou asked with a confused look.

"Gomen, can you come with me for a minute?" Sora asked.

"Ok!" Chou said happily, more than enthusiastic to accompany her newfound friend, a gesture so kind, that Sora couldn't help but smile at the girl. The two then left and went outside to see what Hinata and Sugawara were up to during lunch of all periods.

"What you doing?" Sora asked. The two boys turned around.

"Ah, Mizuki-san and…" Sugawara said smiling, pausing when he looked a Chou. The small girl hid behind Sora. Not to let the girl be overcome by her shyness, Sora stepped out the way and pushed Chou forward.

"This is Hikari Chou, we are in the same class. Chou-san, this is the fukubuchou of the volleyball club and this is Hinata Shoyo. He and I are trying to join the volleyball club. " Sora explained. Chou's eyes immediately widened, in response.

"E-Eh? Sora-san, are you the girl who everyone is talking about?" Chou said shockingly. Sora and Hinata looked at the girl, puzzled by her reaction.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"There is a rumor about a girl who received special permission from the principal to play for the boys' volleyball club. I didn't know it was you!" Chou explained. Sora sighed: she wasn't the type to go parading around for attention, but she knew this would happen eventually. After all, she was a girl being asked to play specifically for the boy's volleyball team; truly it was inevitable.

"Anyway what are you doing?" Sora asked.

"Hinata wanted practice," Sugawara answered. Sora looked at the small boy and smiled.

"At least you got to. I'm still pissed about what happened this morning," Sora said lightly, trying to hide her anger.

"Demo, I wanted to spike!" Hinata whined. Sweat dropped down Sora and Chou's head.

"Hinata… Knowing the basics is important. Without being good or a least decent in your case, we won't be able to win the match," Sora replied bluntly. Hinata looked at her and then looked down at his feet, a little humbled by her open statement. Sora sighed and then smiled.

"Nee Chou-san, I know I said I would go to lunch with you, but…" Sora trailed off. Chou shook her head.

"It's fine. I know how important it is to you and Hinata-san, so please go ahead. I will go eat with Dai-chan," Chou replied. Sora looked at her with a confused look.

"Who's Dai-chan?" Sora asked.

"Ah, he is my childhood friend. I was hoping you would get meet him, but I guess some other time," Chou said, smiling. She then waved goodbye and left to find this so called, 'Dai-chan'.

Sora then began to watch Hinata and Sugawara practice; standing in between the two males in order to properly analyze them. After a brief rally, Hinata then missed the ball.

"Hinata, bend you knees deeper. You will be able to receive powerful serves better that way," Sora explained.

"Like this?" Hinata asked bending his knees. Sora nodded.

"Also, drop you waist and hit it like you're sending it right back in the direction it came from," Sugawara added.

"Hai," Hinata yelled, running over to grab the ball and start again.

"Here it comes," Sugawara said. He then served the ball, Hinata blocked it back the way Sora and Sugawara explained it.

"30 percent power and 43 percent of rotation," Sora mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Sugawara asked.

"If you increase your power and reduce the rotation, Hinata can work on receiving powerful shots," Sora explained, her voice growing a little louder. Sugawara's eyes widened.

"_She is able to see all that?"_ Sugawara thought, astonished that such a young girl could not only be that perceptive, but that knowledgeable as well... There had to be a name for a breed like her, and try as he might to remember what was the title for someone who had that extent of talent, the words had failed to reach him. Shaking off the thought, they went back to practice.

"Hey, Hinata. You want me to toss to you, staring tomorrow morning?" Sugawara asked. Sora and Hinata were surprised.

"Hontoni?" Hinata asked excitedly.

"I'm the official setter of Karasuno, you know. You want to practice, spiking, right?" Sugawara said as he put his hands on his hips.

"Oh, yes. I love spiking. It feels great when it works, and it's awesome!" Hinata said excitedly.

"When you jump through the air and spike that ball is the best part, right?" Sora said smiling. Hinata nodded.

"Sounds like you got some spiking memories," Sugawara said laughing.

"Yes. All three years in junior high there was no setter or anything. I was the only club member. My friends in the basketball club would toss for me. Even after club activates, I had first-years, mothers, setters from the girl's team throw tosses to me… We got along well and we're friends, but still, they weren't really teammates." Hinata explained, his ordinarily cheerful face faltering the slightest bit. Sugawara and Sora both looked at the small boy.

"Is that one of the reasons why you came to Karasuno?" Sora asked.

"Hai. That's why I used to wonder what kind of setter I'd have in high school. I was looking forward to it… before I got here…" Hinata said, a little deflated.

"You thought of Kageyama?" Sora asked. Hinata nodded.

"Like I said, I'm a setter. I'll toss to you," Sugawara returned. Hinata first beamed with building excitement, and then instantly, his mood seemed to dampen, his face had fallen as he looked away.

"But if you toss to me… I'd kinda feel like I've lost," Hinata said with an irritated tone.

"Is because you want to prove to Kageyama that you can receive?" Sora asked even though she already knew the answer. Hinata nodded and Sugawara sighed.

"Hinata, Mizuki-san, why do you insist on getting in Kageyama's face? Personally, I try to avoid confronting guys who are stronger than me," Sugawara said.

"At the junior high tournament… he was so much bigger and taller than me. He was so strong. It was horrible when he stood in front of me," Hinata explained.

"I understand how that must feel," Sugawara replied.

"I came to Karasuno because I was going to beat Kageyama," Hinata explained.

"I see. But, Hinata, is beating Kageyama all you want out of volleyball?" Sugawara asked.

"Oh… um… I just want to become strong enough to defeat Kageyama. If I can do that, I'll be on even ground with any strong opponent. I wouldn't be easy to beat in a match."

Sora looked at the Hinata, then smiled as she then placed her left hand on his shoulder.

"Hinata, I understand your feelings. Back in middle school, I was shorter and had short legs and arms. The upperclassmen would always tease me and say that I could never be a good volleyball player with my height. But with the help of my parents, I was able overcome that obstacle and became a regular on the team. My senpai back then were strong, but… to be able overcome the hurdle…. It really is satisfying," Sora explained as she looked at the sky.

"Then, why did you go head to head with Kageyama?" Sugawara asked. Sora's face immediately dropped, and an ominous, dark aura had begun to swirl around her.

"He acts like he's strong and he thinks he can handle everything on his own… He really acts like a self-centered bastard. But… when Sawamura-senpai said Kageyama would never be a setter in the team… it made me really angry. I can't stand him, but I am willing to fight with him," Sora ground out.

"Even though you two don't see eye to eye, it's good that you are willing to fight for him." The older teen said with a grin aimed at Sora. Sora just shrugged in response and looked away. She then noticed a shadow behind a vending machine and realized who it was.

"_Kageyama? He must have heard what we said?"_ Sora thought. The tall boy then left. Sora continued to watch Hinata and Sugawara practice until lunch period was over.

* * *

She then departed and went back to her classroom, though when she opened the door, she saw Chou talking to a girl with light caramel hair that came down to her shoulders with red bunny ear bow to help keep the falling tresses out of her face and out of a pair of dark green eyes. She had fair skin and big lips, and seemed to stand merely an inch taller than Sora. There was a boy who was standing next to Chou and he had fiery red hair, spiked as could be and dark blue eyes.

Sensing her presence, Chou looked up and saw Sora.

"Sora-san! Please come over here!" Chou said excitedly. Sora obliged and walked over to the three.

"Is this the girl you were telling us about," he girl asked Chou, who simply nodded in response.

"Then, you're the girl that joined the volleyball team. So the rumors are true," the boy said.

"Well then, I'm Isamu Saki! Nice you meet you," Saki said with an energetic smile.

"I'm Takeshi Daisuke. I'm Chou's childhood friend and Saki's boyfriend. Nice to meet you." Daisuke said giving Sora a thumbs-up and grinning.

"Nice to meet you as well, Isamu-san, Takeshi-san." Sora said politely. The two teens looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Etto, did I say something wrong Chou-san?" Sora asked.

"Saa…" Chou said who also had a confused look on her face.

"Sorry, but you don't have to act so polite. You can call us by our first names." Saki said smiling. Sora blushed a little bit and nodded, slightly flustered that they were allowing her to be so open with them.

After classes were over, Sora said good-bye to her newfound friends and left to go change into her volleyball gear, afterwards rushing to the gym to wait for Hinata and Kageyama. When she got there, she noticed Hinata was doing some stretching. Feeling a wave of mischief take over, she smiled playfully and tiptoed slowly so he wouldn't hear, and sneaked up behind him.

"Hinata!" Sora yelled.

The small boy screamed and fell to the ground, nearly falling into cardiac arrest, which only caused Sora to burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oi! What was that for?" He asked with an irritated tone. Sora stopped laughing and grinned.

"Sorry, but I saw an opportunity," Sora chirped in response. Hinata just pouted.

"What are you doing?" a voice said. Sora turned around and saw Kageyama and all of his tall, stoic glory standing behind her.

"Just have some fun." She said grinning.

"If you think this a joke, then I don't…" Kageyama began, though quickly ceased talking when he saw Sora's icy glare.

"If I thought it was a joke, then I wouldn't be helping you. But you have no right to talk. You had me serve the whole entire time and didn't give me chance to show my skills. If you think that I am weak just because I am a girl, then say it to me right now. But let me tell you something… I'm not weak, so start treating me as your equal!" Sora said with determination in her voice.

Kageyama just looked at her.

"Let's go." He said walking away.

"Hey. Where are you going?" Hinata asked, running after him.

"We can't handle the ball freely in there. I found a place we can practice." Kageyama said; his sudden display of amity causing Sora and Hinata's eyes to widen.

"Where. Good job, Kageyama! Well done." Hinata said excitedly. Sora sighed, but followed after the two boys. When they arrived, it was the field where the soccer players ran drills and plays. They began to practice for a brief period of time before Kageyama threw Sora the ball. She caught it and then looked at him.

"You really didn't get the chance to practice this morning. So let's see if you really good as you say you are," Kageyama challenged. Sora looked at him and grinned.

"Osu! Hinata, you better watch," she yelled.

"Hai!" The small boy said.

Kageyama served at Sora as hard and as fast as he could; though to his slight disdain, she received them each time with no problem. Despite initially doubting the girl, Kageyama was rather impressed: he had thought she was all talk, when in reality she was actually pretty good. After they were done witnessing her skills in action, Kageyama and Sora turned to help Hinata practice.

He was still having a problem receiving the ball; evident again when Kageyama served the ball and Hinata unfortunately missed it.

"Don't just use your hands. Move your feet. Come on, concentrate," Kageyama yelled. He served the ball but Hinata missed it, yet again.

"I know that." Hinata said and went to retrieve the ball.

Sora giggled. Kageyama looked her, visually irritated. "What are you laughing about?" He asked with a jagged tone.

"Nothing." Sora said, still smiling.

She knew why he was being hard on Hinata now. Not because of the deal, but to help the small boy improve. They all kept practicing until Hinata missed the ball for the umpteenth time, watching as it flew into the tree beside them. Sora sighed and shook her head while Hinata went to climb up the trunk and retrieve the ball.

"I said to take it easy when we practice outside," Hinata yelled at Kageyama.

"All you have to do us receive properly," Kageyama retorted, trying to get the ball back with the stick.

"Whatever, King." Hinata said under his breath. Kageyama though, unfortunately heard him and gave the small boy a glare beyond simple agitated words.

"Hey," Kageyama said angrily. Hinata flinched and Sora looked at him. The ball fell and Kageyama caught it and walked away. Sora sighed.

"Come on, Hinata," Sora said. Hinata slid down the stump of the tree.

"_I wonder why he gets made when someone calls him "King"?_ Sora wondered. She then looked at Hinata who was smiling like a fool; thus she felt the compulsion to knock the small boy on the head.

"Ouch! What was that for Mizuki-san?" Hinata shouted.

"Stop day dreaming, and let's get back to it," Sora answered, walking way.

"I wonder what our first-year opponents are like. They'll be better than playing against our senpais." Hinata mused, walking beside Sora.

"Who cares what they're like? There's no choice for me but to win." Kageyama returned, holding the ball out in front of him.

"That's what I was going to say," Hinata said pointing at Kageyama. Hey two looked at one another until Kageyama clicked his tongue and walked away.

"Don't click your tongue," Hinata hollered.

"You two sound like a arguing married couple," Sora grumbled under her breath. The two boys looked back at her and sneered. In order to play off as if she hadn't openly insulted the both of them, she began whistling. They went back to their serves and receives, continuing on until it was dark. Sora looked over the two with her eyes narrowed in scrutiny while she wiped the sweat from her face. All seemed to disappear around her she focused in on their forms, watching them both carefully.

"_Even though he's self-centered, he pretty good. Hinata is starting to improve too, but he still has a long ways to,"_ Sora mused.

The inky black night sky snapped her from her analysis, causing her to check her phone. She sighed, noting that it was passed her curfew. But, still, she told Ryuu knew that she would be coming home late: it was just amazing how much stamina these two had. She couldn't believe it!

But she had no right talk: she would stay late at the gym to practice for hours when she lived in America. One time, she even fainted due to exhaustion, because was practicing her spiking until her arm nearly fell out of its socket. Of course, her parents got really mad at her that day, obviously worried for their young daughter's health.

She began to watch the two boys again: Hinata had once more, missed receiving the ball, though he immediately threw the ball back at Kageyama.

"One… One more time," Hinata said with determination in his eyes.

"Here it comes." Kageyama said with equal fervor in his voice.

"Yeah," Hinata said getting in position to receive the ball.

"_They might not be on good terms with one another, but I think they are starting to respect each other,"_ Sora noted with a smile.

Being isolated in such an open space during the evening had forced Sora's guard up, the girl unfortunately feeling a looming a presence from somewhere, though she couldn't quite point out the location.

"Go," Kageyama said as he threw the ball into the air. Hinata ran to receive it back, but the ball was caught by someone else: someone unearthly tall.

"Heh~, they're really doing this outside," the voice said. Sora looked over and saw a boy towering above all of them, probably near 6'2, bearing an average built body. His cropped blonde hair shone in the moonlight, his brown eyes glinting behind a pair of simple glasses.

"Are you the ones that stirred up trouble on the very first day?" The boy asked grinning snidely. Another came from behind the taller boy, was an average looking young man with an average built body. Really the only thing significant about him was his short black hair bearing a piece of fringe sticking up at the top, and freckles spread across his face.

"Tee-shirts? Chilly," the boy chided with a grin. Hinata jumped to get the ball back, but the boy with blonde hair held it up high over his head.

"Give it back," Hinata hollered, trying to get the ball.

"Isn't it time for elementary school boys to go home?" The blonde hair boy quipped with a sharp grin.

Hinata scowled, a palpable anger building within him.

"Who are you guys?" Sora asked with a glare. The boy shifted his glasses at Sora and smirked.

"Hmmm… you have a little fan girl with you. Does she cheer you guys on so you guys can get motivated?" The blonde hair boy chirped darkly.

Sora's right eye began to twitch.

"You're the other first-years joining the club," Kageyama asked stoically.

"Hey, I was talking here," Hinata roared, though Kageyama dutifully ignored him.

"You, how tall are you?" Kageyama asked with a passive expression.

"He's 188.3 cm," Sora immediately answered.

Taken back by the sureness in her voice, everyone turned looked at her.

"How did you know that?" Kageyama asked.

"Etto, I have something called analytical eye. I can see a person's height, weight, and what they need to improve on just by judging the movements of their muscles, shape of their body, things like that," Sora clarified.

Everyone eyes had widened though the blonde boy glowered at her through his frames.

"Then… you must be the female that was signed up for the volleyball team," he said.

"So, you got a problem with it," Sora returned abrasively. The boy with the blonde hair only shrugged before another wolfish grin took over his face. She then turned his attention towards Kageyama.

"You're Kageyama of Kitagawa Daiichi, aren't you? What's an elite like you doing in Karasuno?" The boy asked.

"Huh?" Kageyama said glaring at the boy.

"Hey," Hinata yelled, grabbing everyone's attention.

"We won't lose this Saturday, you hear me?" Hinata hollered. The blonde hair boy only looked at Hinata.

"Oh, I see," The boy said calmly. Hinata looked at him with a surprised look.

"It might be an important match for you three, but it doesn't matter to me at all," he said, throwing the ball in the air and catching it.

Sora's eye widened.

"What do you mean you're not worried about it," she asked.

"I'm not worried about winning or losing, so if you two really need to win, I can go easy on you if you like," he mused with a taunting voice.

"What?" Hinata yelled with anger. Sora and Kageyama merely scowled at him.

"Whether you go easy or give it your all, the bottom line is I will win," Kageyama assured.

"You mean 'we,'" Sora and Hinata yelled.

The boy laughed, moonlight glinting off of the tips of his tresses, onto the frame of his glasses.

"Amazing confidence. I expect nothing less of the 'King,'" he said.

Kageyama returned his callous comment with narrowed eyes that nearly burned under the shadow of his fringe.

"Hey. Don't call me that," Kageyama growled.

"So it is true," the boy mused.

"What?" Kageyama yelled.

"The rumor that he loses it when he's called the 'King of the Court.' What's wrong with 'King?' It's cool. I think it suits you perfectly, 'King.'"

Sora glanced at the setter, noticing that his arms were clenched and shaking.

Needless to say, Sora and Hinata backed away.

"What do you want from me, dude?" Kageyama asked as he tried to keep his cool. The boy walked towards Kageyama and stopped at his side.

"I watched the prefecture preliminary tournament. That was some egocentric tossing. I can't believe your teammates tolerated it, because I just couldn't. I guess what happened was because they couldn't tolerate it any more, either," the boy said. Kageyama clicked his tongue. He turned around and grabbed the blonde hair by his jacket collar.

"Tsukii," the other boy exclaimed worriedly.

"Kageyama, stop it," Sora shouted. She was about to intervene until she saw Kageyama's fridig stare and stopped herself.

It was different from his usual corrosive anger: it was much scarier than before. The boy with the blonde hair just returned the look with a sly grin.

Hi fists still tight with anger, Kageyama eventually let go of the boy and turned around.

"_What is this bastard talking about?"_ Sora thought.

Kageyama grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulder.

"Let's go," Kageyama ordered.

"What?" Sora said with a confused look.

The boy with the blonde hair picked up the volleyball.

"Running away? I guess the King isn't what he's cracked up to be. Maybe I'll win against the King this Saturday, too," the boy said with a teasing tone.

"_Ok, that is the last straw!"_ Sora said in her head.

Immediately, she grabbed her volleyball and served at the boy's head. It whizzed past the boy with the blonde hair, missing his face by merely an inch. The boy looked at Sora and aimed a furious pair of shadowed brown eyes at her. She returned the favor with one of her own. Everyone just looked at her.

"You missed," the boy said smirking.

"Oh, I did. Well be glad, because if it were to hit you, you probably be lying on the ground right now," Sora challenged.

"You really have some nerve," he said. When he threw the ball in the air, Hinata jumped up and took the ball away from the boy, flexing that impossibly high jump for the blonde to see. Sora smirked as she watched his eyes shoot open from behind his glasses.

"Shut up with the 'King' crap. I'm here too," Hinata stated with a jagged frown.

Sora mentally smacked herself.

"_This kids…"_ She thought.

"I'll spike the ball over your head at the match," Hinata hollered.

"Huh?" The boy said with a menacing look. Hinata back away.

"Oi, don't back away," Sora whispered.

"I know that, demo…What, do you wanna fight, bastard?" Hinata challenged. The blonde hair boy merely sighed.

"Let's not get so intense. Let's do this cheerfully, for fun. It's only a club activity, after all," he posed, grinning with a faux air of cordiality.

"What do you mean, "only"? Hinata asked.

"I mean, 'literally.' See you later," the boy said and walked away.

"Who are you guys?" Sora asked. The two boys looked back at her.

"First-year class-4, Tsukishima Kei," the blonde one answered.

"I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi," the other replied.

"We're your teammates starting today. But enemies for now. Looking forward to see the King's tosses," Tsukishima quipped.

"See ya," Yamaguchi said as they walked away.

"Man, those guys totally give me the creeps." Hinata said as they walked out of earshot.

"Un, they pissed me off," Sora replied.

"We'll pummel them to the ground," Hinata assured looking at Sora and Kageyama.

"Ah, I want to see their faces when they lose," Sora agreed with a confident tone.

"I don't need you to tell me that," Kageyama said walking away.

"Hey. Where are you going?" Hinata asked.

"Huh?" Kageyama looked at the small boy.

"He's right… We're not done yet," Sora said smirking. Kageyama looked at the two before setting down his bag, walking towards them to resume practice. Kageyama continued serving, Hinata receiving, and Sora standing off on the side, observing them.

Hinata had miraculously received the ball back and Kageyama was going to set him up, but a certain look crossed over his face—a strain of unwelcomed nostalgia—and he ultimately served the ball back, though Hinata had again faltered and missed.

"Hey, Kageyama. It's too dark to see clearly. Don't hit it to so hard."

"Hinata's right. It's dangerous," Sora said nodding.

"Sorry," Kageyama returned tersely; though Sora only sighed and Hinata flinched.

"Are you thinking about what that guy said," Sora asked, but Kageyama didn't reply.

"I don't know what happened to you last year. But whatever the reason it is, you don't need to be bothered by it. My mom always told me that when you're all alone, you can't do anything… But with people who are willing to help you, you succeed." Sora said. Kageyama looked at the girl, a bit puzzled.

"_Is she trying to comfort me?"_ He thought. Hinata threw the ball at him, a sly grin taking his mouth.

"Let's do it again," Hinata yelled.

* * *

And thus, since that day, the three aspiring-Regulars resolved to attend practice early in the morning, and continuing on until late at night.

Kageyama finally allowed Sora to spike the ball-which Hinata openly complained about—and Sugawara would help Hinata receive during their lunch period, with all of them gathered to practice after school.

Eventually, Friday rolled around and that meant it was the last practice before Saturday. Kageyama helped Sora and Hinata practice their receiving. He served the ball towards Hinata who blocked it back without missing it.

Sora and Kageyama's eyes widened.

"_He couldn't handle a ball like that before. He's really… something."_ Sora thought grinning.

"Hey, don't go easy on me!" Hinata yelled. Kageyama served to Sora who received back and then he went to Hinata who received it back again. The door open and Tanaka walked and saw Sugawara watching the three; as well Hinata and Sora receiving Kageyama's serves.

"How long have they been at it?" Tanaka asked.

"It's been fifteen minutes since I got here," Sugawara stated in a rather serious tone.

"Fifteen minutes straight?" Tanaka nearly shouted, unable to actually believe such a feat. Sora received the ball and fell to her knees.

"You've both reach you limit," Kageyama yelled. He served the ball at Sora who received it back. He was shocked and then served the ball at Hinata who received it back as well.

"You can't go any further…" Kageyama tried to say, but was cut off.

"Not yet!" Sora and Hinata roared in unison.

"We haven't dropped the ball yet!" Hinata yelled with a determined voice.

"Until that ball drops, we will keep standing!" Sora yelled with a determined voice.

"Take that!" Kageyama yelled back as he served the ball hard at Sora. She cringed, but returned the ball back and fell on one knee. He then served the ball high in the air.

"Wow, bad character!" Tanaka said.

"How are they supposed to get that?" Sugawara said worriedly.

"_Crap! I didn't mean that…"_ Kageyama noted with a small jerk. Sora got off her knee and just stood in place, her legs trembling with exhaustion. Though, despite her own fatigue, she looked to see Hinata sprinting for the ball; unable to hide her satisfaction, she grinned.

"If you think that was going to stop him. You're wrong! No matter what you throw at him, he will get it even if he's at his limit. Believe in him, Kageyama!" Sora hollered as Hinata made the save.

"_I'll toss to anyone who's essential to winning."_

Kageyama's head slightly bowed as the words from the first practice suddenly coarsed through his mind. Though immediately after, the tinkling sound of Sora's voice had flooded his body.

"_My mom always told me that when you're all alone, you can't do anything… But with the people who are willing to help you, you succeed."_

"_I haven't lost yet."_ Hinata's lone cry echoed throughout him.

Kageyama slowly extended his arm up in the air, his fingers curving, his elbows out, tossing the ball high towards Hinata.

Sora's eye widened.

"_So you finally realized it."_

She looked back at Hinata who was already sprinting towards the set, leaping into the air, arching his back, before slamming his palm against the ball, watching it as it soared over the net.

Sora smiled and she fell to her knees.

"Way to go, Hinata," she yelled before picking herself up and walking over to the two boys. She looked at Hinata, who was on the ground coughing.

"Hey. We're going to win tomorrow." Kageyama said looking at Hinata. Sora extended his hand. Hinata looked at her and took her hand. She helped him up and then looked at the two fellow first-years before her.

"I guess we're not enemies anymore… Well Hinata wasn't one anyway," Sora said smirking at Kageyama. The tall boy looked at her though merely sighed. She was right, but he honestly didn't want to admit it. He then walked away to get the ball.

"_He's really something."_ Sora giggled, shaking her head. She then looked at Hinata and she went pale as Hinata's convulsions grew bolder, signaling the telltale signs of vomit making its way up his throat.

"Someone! Get him some water!" Sora yelled worriedly. Tanaka and Sugawara immediately scattered.

The next day, it was the match. Sora was quietly walking to school when she saw a speeding bike fly passed her. She blinked a couple of times before heavily sighing as she realized it was Hinata.

"_This kid…"_

She continued to walk and then made her way to the gym. When she arrived she saw Hinata and Kageyama huffing and puffing on the ground. A bit of sweat dropped down her head.

"What's the point of getting worn out before the match?" Tanaka asked.

"Don't worry about them Tanaka-senpai. I'll handle it," Sora said. He nodded and then walked into the gym.

"Damn… That was a draw," Hinata panted.

"Were you two really racing?" Sora asked.

"I won't ever lose to the like of him," Kageyama grumbled trying to regain his breathing. Sora rubbed her temples.

"You guys are really irritating and you're both idiots."

Kageyama aimed a sharp glower at her while Hinata just pouted.

"But… With your reflexes and your knowledge… We're going to win today," Sora assured as she looked onwards at the sky. She then glanced down at the two first years below her: Hinata brimming with determination while Kageyama remained stoic.

"Let's get ready." Kageyama said with a firm tone.

"Yeah," Sora and Hinata chirped in unison.

"Morning, King," an unseemly voice said. The three turned around to see tall, lanky Tsukishima and Yamaguchi standing in front of them.

Sora smirked.

"I hope you're ready," she challenged.

"Hmmm, the fan girl is back. Are you here to cheer on the King and the Shrimp?" Tsukishima asked smirking down at her.

Sora's right eye began to twitch, but she took a breath to regain her composure.

"Nope… I'm here with my teammates to take you two down," Sora guaranteed with an unwavering tone. They all looked at each other and glared.

And this was how their new friendship began.

* * *

What did you guys think? I hoped you liked it. Next chapter you guys will be able to see Sora's true skills. If you have any questions about the story, you can leave a review or PM me! I will answer them in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Partnership

Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. I play tennis so I am really busy. But that does not stop me from writing. Bergliot has been a big help, so I want you all to give her a round of applause!

Big news everyone! For this Story, we have 15 favorites and 23 followers! So that means 38 people are reading this story! This makes me and Bergliot really happy

Well enough of me talking! Let's get on with the story and remember. I only own Mizuki Sora and other oc characters! Enjoy Chapter 4!

* * *

Chapter 4: Partnership

The day of the four-on-four match had finally encroached upon the first years, and needless to say, Sora was excited. More than excited: in fact, she was absolutely enthralled to be a part of this momentous event. It wasn't just menial passing and spiking for the sake of stroking one's skills: it was more than just a game; it was more than just a ticket into a club full of sweaty athletes.

It struck a cord in Sora, being surrounded by well-built individuals, wearing volleyball regalia; the sort of cord that echoed all the way to California and back. Nearly trembling with anticipation, she couldn't help but beam at just the thought of standing on the court again, a myriad of emotions crashing through her like rushing water. Admittedly, it had been a while since she had participated in a match, so of course, she wanted to do her best.

The doors to the gym opened with the girl from Monday making her way in, her gentle raven locks almost ethereal as it swayed slightly behind her, as if a mystic breeze were eternally in her grasp. She adjusted her glasses, pushing a stray bit of hair across her cheek.

"Good morning," she said.

"The beautiful girl. The beautiful girl is here," Hinata tittered excitedly.

"Un, she really is," Sora replied while stretching.

"Hey, hey. Is she the manger," Hinata asked looking at Kageyama.

Though, regrettably, the tall boy said nary a word and continued to stretch.

"_What's up with him?"_ Sora thought. She mustered the gumption to ask, but at that moment, Sawamura had called everyone together.

"All right. Let's get started. Ennoshita and I will be on Tsukishima's team," Sawamura explained.

"What? You, Buchou," Hinata asked worriedly. Sawamura just laughed.

"Don't worry, Tanaka's a better attacker than me. Though I won't go easy on you, either."

"Neither will we," Sora said as she placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Hm… that little one, fan girl and Tanaka-san which one shall I crush—I mean—block first?"

Tsukishima ensured that his voice would be loud enough to avoid being boisterous, though condescending enough for it to be heard throughout the gym.

Sora and Hinata looked back and glared at the gangly little beanstalk while Tanaka's ear seemed to physically grow as he listened to the boy's arrogant tone.

"Oh, yes, yes. I'd like to see the King lose, too."

"Tsukki, they can hear you. Watch it," Yamaguchi whispered.

"I'm saying it so they can hear it. I sure hope they lose their cool," Tsukishima said with a sideways smirk.

"Tsukishima, you got character problems," Sawamura replied worriedly.

"Our special feature is the King, who's been abandoned by his underlings," Tsukishima returned.

Sora looked over at Kageyama and was a bit perturbed to see that even the stoic setter seemed worried.

"Hey, hey. Did you hear that? My, the things he says. Oh, that Tsukishima-kun, I'm going to really… crush him to a pulp," Tanaka growled as a dark aura began to swirl around him like a monstrous vortex. Sora just smirked, Kageyama's eye had widened, while Hinata stuck his tongue out.

The match then went underway; with Tsukishima's team taking the first point. Regrettably, they were able to splice through Sora and Hinata with a rather forceful spike. The second point was then taken by Hinata's team; thanks to the over-the-top Tanaka's whipping hand as he too spiked the ball over the net. Not but a moment later, the third point was settled by Tanaka with yet another powerful swipe of his arm.

Unsurprisingly, Tanaka reacted in a rather animated manner, though the injections imparted by his teammates did little but boost his ego.

"He blew that big first-year out the water." One of the upperclassman, Kinoshita had mused.

"Awesome power! More than usual!" another one said.

Tanaka, as endearing as he was tactless, then looked off his shirt and swung it around and began to scream—a noise that was unabashedly loud and almost carnal.

"_Tanaka-sempai…"_ Sora thought as she smiled worriedly.

"Tanaka, shut up," Sugawara yelled.

"Showboat!"

"Don't take your shirt off," Kinoshita quipped loudly through his cupped hands.

"Maybe you shouldn't have razzed Tanaka," Sawamura said with a cocked grin—both put off by Tanaka's brutality, and amused by Tsukishima's obvious frustration.

Tsukishima only sneered with a small, 'tch,' at the end of his breath, and went to get back in position.

Yamaguchi then served the ball, Tanka proving his prowess in defense as he raced to receive it. As Kageyama angled his body to set, he tossed it high in Hinata's sights.

Though it was almost a novelty just how high the petite little carrot-top could jump, leaving everyone in the gym with their mouths agape in shock and awe; Hinata was unfortunately defeated by Tsukishima's alarmingly long arms extended for the block. Sora looked at Hinata; the poor boy openly shocked to what had just happened, as if he had been blocked for the first time, tasting defeat like soil in between his teeth.

Sora knew that Tsukishima was going to be a problem: he was tall, so blocking spikes is an issue for short people like Hinata and Sora. Those arms—though unsightly thin like a fragile paper chain—were rather strong and daunting when hovering in the air, forcing the spikers to reach for even the tiniest of openings to avoid colliding with them, grasping for air not to lose the point.

Tsukishima merely smirked.

"You surprised me the other day, too. You sure can jump. If only you were 30 centimeters taller, you could've become a superstar," he chided. Sora glared at him for speaking in such an uncouth manner, then proceeded to walk over to Hinata. She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, offering the discouraged carrot-top with a small grin.

"Don't worry about him. He wants to decrease your confidence. Don't allow him to do so," Sora reassured.

Hinata gave her a small smile, assumedly breaking from his brief downheartedness before he took his position.

"One more," he yelled.

Try as he might, he jumped once again, but was blocked. By then the score had inched up to 04-06 in the first set.

Needless to say, Hinata was furious. Though he was understandably so—it was blaringly obvious that he didn't have the 30 centimeter height advantage like Tsukishima had blithely offered earlier, and couldn't match a lanky boy like Tsukishima with his jump alone. It was as if he were running on a treadmill: giving all of his might plus a little bit more, and going absolutely nowhere—though for someone like Hinata, he would probably be the type to trip and fall flat on his face against the moving surface underneath him. Hinata scrunched his nosed and exhaled forcefully.

"Damn…"

"_This is difficult than we thought. We need to take another approach." _Sora thought, her face smoothing into one of cool, solemn contemplation.

"Hey, there. He's constantly getting blocked. You should do the King's toss. The toss that decimates his enemies… and decimates his teammates, as well," Tsukishima taunted, aiming his vile words at Kageyama.

"Shut up," the setter replied calmly.

But, Tsukishima then smirked, though he did pause when he noticed that Sora was looking right back at him.

"What, shouldn't you cheer your team on," Tsukishima sneered at Sora.

She only stared at him, her eyes not quite glazed, though not as animated as they were. She then walked away to take her position, though her mouth curled into a soft smirk.

* * *

The matched continued on, though as Yamaguchi served, his wispy arm proved to be his downfall, the ball missing and falling into the belly of the net. Tsukishima looked back at his friend with an annoyed expression.

"Sorry, Tsukki," Yamaguchi apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.

"We don't need a speedy attack. We can win without it," Kageyama said, picking up the ball preparing for his turn to serve.

"Go, killer serve," Hinata yelled.

"Nice serve," Sora yelled.

Kageyama took a few step back before striding forwards, his arms whipping behind him, his legs seemingly disappearing from under him as he ascended into the air. He snapped his arm, aiming for the far corner of the court; but out of nowhere as if birthed from smoke, Sawamura appeared with his arms outstretched. The ball hit solidly against his skin, rising again in the air without fail: needless to say his prowess surprised the three freshmen. Tsukishima then tossed the ball with Yamaguchi for the spike—despite Yamaguchi's lack of strength, Hinata was still unable to keep the ball airborne, a frustrated scowl taking his petite face.

"Damn it," Kageyama yelled.

"Daichi-san's weapon is his solid receive," Tanaka explained.

"Un, but they all have serious defense," Sora said with a grim tone.

Sawamura looked at the three first years, somewhat amused by the varying hues marring their face, and grinned.

"Did you think you'd score a few points? I don't have outstanding talent, but I've been doing this a couple years longer than you. My receives are well integrated into my body," Sawamura said.

Sora merely looked at him with a crooked smile.

"You really are something, senpai, but don't count us out just yet. We _will_ pass you."

Beneath the surface of Sora's eyes, thousands of volts of electricity was passing from nerve to nerve, pulsing though her connecting muscles, relaying information to her brain and throughout her body. Every single movement, every single twitch of the knee, jerk of the arm, stretch of their fingers she could see so vividly through her bottomless violet eyes. She scrutinized them, picked them apart one by one, each fiber of their being with thorough attention. Her eyes flicked up as a bit of movement caught her attention, tuning in to see Sawamura with a cocky grin.

"Don't think you can get past me that easily," he quipped.

"Hey, King. Maybe you should start getting serious," Tsukishima offered arrogantly at Kageyama. Sora looked back and saw the setter with a glare darker than any grimy alleyway, more ferocious than any feral animal.

"What's your problem? You haven't stopped getting in our faces since the other day. What's this 'King's Toss,'" came Hinata's penetrating voice.

"Don't you know why they call him 'King,'" Tsukishima asked.

"We don't, so explain," Sora barked with an irritated tone.

"He's nicknamed 'King of the Court,' because it was given to him by the guys of Kitagawa Daiichi: the teammates of the king. What it means is… He's the self-centered King. The oppressive dictator. I heard rumors, but I was convinced when I saw that match. He got too oppressive, and had to sit out on the bench," Tsukishima drawled with a haughty grin.

All eyes within the gym turned to Kageyama.

"He doesn't set up quick hits. Is that because he's lost his nerve from that match," Tsukishima hummed.

"Dude. You've been yammering too much," Tanaka said, his temper quickly boiling.

"Tanaka," Sawamura chastised, shaking his head, ushering for Tanaka to stop.

"He made a toss, but no one jumped-" Tsukishima began in a sharp, wispy tone, though was quickly cut off by Kageyama.

"You are right. I made a toss, and no one was there. It's truly frightening."

Sora sighed and punched Kageyama in the arm.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for," Kageyama yelled.

"You are an idiot," Sora stated.

"Huh?"

"You were only in junior high, right," Hinata asked.

"You toss to us just fine," Sora said.

"Un, it makes no difference to me," Hinata offered innocently.

"Me either. I like his tosses," Sora agreed with a wide grin.

"The real problem for me is how I'm going to get past you," Hinata barked, pointing at the tall, gangly Tsukishima.

Tanaka and Sawamura couldn't help but laugh.

"We'll win against Tsukishima, become official club members, and you will bravely play setter," Hinata assured.

"You don't have to be alone anymore," Sora intoned.

Kageyama looked at the two freshmen pressing their faces near his.

"How pure and straightforward… and irritating," Tsukishima murmured roughly. His demeanor seemed to take an aggression that while apparently passive, was still intimidating. He turned swiftly, walking away towards the back to regain his position.

* * *

The match resumed with Sora at the baseline for the serve. She bounced the ball a couple of times as she looked up at the court. Her mouth curled into a sharp smile as threw the ball in the air. She sprung up high off the ground, hitting a serve that was abnormally powerful, with a perfect arc past Yamaguchi. She hit the ball with such force and precision, that everyone in the room turned to her with a unified expression of unabashed shock.

"Do you guys like my jump serve? Thanks to my teammates, I was able to analyze your weaknesses and determine where to serve it to," Sora drawled.

"Oh, she's has a few tricks up her sleeves," Sawamura mused brightly.

"Che…" Tsukishima looked at the girl with a brow scrunched in frustration. How could a girl have that sort of power, and that precision?

He looked that Sora, Hinata, Tanaka, and Kageyama. They were all congratulating her, praising her, patting he on the back, as if it were Nationals, and she had just won the winning score for their first set.

With his eyes glued to the four, he could only narrow his eyes into a sturdy glare behind his glasses.

He grasped the ball, preparing for his own serve.

"You can't make up for height or gender by psyching yourself up. If you believe effort alone will win out… You're dead wrong," he growled.

He whipped the ball over the net, Sora held her arms out to pass it towards Kageyama, the setter digging his feet in for the toss. Tanaka and Hinata both roared for the spike, leaving Kageyama with two options:

Serve to the experienced second year, despite Yamaguchi and Tsukishima being nearest his region,

Or serve to Hinata, the unskilled, skinny dumbass who yells like a child when he's ignored.

He had his hands prepared to serve to Tanaka,

But was stunned when Hinata called his name.

He turned around and saw Hinata in the air prepared for the toss.

"He's there! Give it to him Kageyama," Sora yelled.

He tossed it, the ball flying towards the little carrot-top, and try as he might, Hinata's swing barely scraped the ball, manifesting in a weak spike. Sawamura tried to dive for it, but the ball had dropped out.

"That was close. I almost missed it. But it was out," Hinata exhaled.

"What was that for," Kageyama shouted.

"But the ball came to me. Forget about junior high. I'll take any toss I can get. Gratefully. I'll jump anywhere. I'll hit any ball. So… Toss it to me," Hinata howled.

Sora looked at the boy and grinned before gifting him a hard smack across the back.

"Trust us Kageyama, we are your partners, so believe in our abilities," Sora assured. Kageyama looked at the two with an expression of surprise.

"Hey guys, you know how to do quick hits," Tanaka questioned.

"Quick hits," Hinata chirped, staring at his older teammate with a puzzled look.

"Quick hits are fast attacks like the one you just did," Sora explained.

"Not at all. All I've ever spiked are balls that get tossed high up," Hinata replied.

"But you just did it," Tanaka declared.

"Ah! It's just like your match in junior high. You spiked a missed toss by the beginner setter." Sora declared after a moment of thought.

"Huh? But I don't remember how I did it."

Sora smacked her forehead and sighed.

"But I'll spike any toss. I'll spike it, understood," Hinata said turning over to Kageyama.

Kageyama—not all that accustomed to being shown any sort of amiability, especially from people who posed as his teammates—stiffened up due to Hinata's unabashed geniality. Sora giggled at his flustered reaction, though stood back as the setter looked away and posed:

"We've never gotten coordinated. A fast attack is impossible."

Hinata and Sora were shocked to hear what had just come out of the setter's mouth.

"_Is this guy serious? Does he actually know the definition of 'impossible?'" _Sora inwardly screamed.

"You are a really strange guy," Sora stated.

Hinata nodded in agreement with Sora.

A vein popped onto Kageyama's head.

"Shut up," Kageyama barked before walking over to his post.

"It's not impossible," Sora called. Kageyama stopped and turned around to look at the girl with his trademark scowl, though the determination in her eyes caused him to flinch.

"The attack is possible, but have to trust in your partner," Sora pushed firmly.

Unable to retort, the two just locked eyes, leaving their ephemeral thoughts unspoken.

"Oi, would the couple stop looking at each other so we can get on with the game," Tsukishima chirped jaggedly. Sora and Kageyama glared at him.

"Like hell I would ever go out with him!"

"Like hell I would ever go out with her!"

Startled by their unified reaction, Sora and Kageyama shared a brief line of eye contact before they both stalked off and crouched into position.

"It's not like you, King." Tsukishima said teasingly.

Due to his spotlight lingering too long on both Sora and Kageyama, Hinata became irritated.

"I'll spike it past you. Wait and see," Hinata shouted, returning Tsukishima's attention towards himself.

"There you go again, all psyched up. Just getting psyched up isn't going to make things right. Some people aren't cut out for some things. Clearly, you're not cut out to be a spiker," Tsukishima stated.

Tanaka was about to tell the Tsukishima off with his fist high and shaking, but Sawamura stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

But in an instant, a menacing aura had begun to filter throughout the gym: dark, violet, alienesque in sensation. The boys looked back, their faces quickly turning pale.

It was Sora and Sora alone who was giving off the swirling, almost living and breathing tendrils of malice. She walked towards Tsukishima—who despite being innately supercilious—was feverously trying to hide the fact that he may have gone too far.

"You bastard… just because he's small, doesn't mean he can't stand tall on the court. There was one match, when a team was much bigger and taller than mine. We got creamed the first set, but we never lost our determination and fought to the bitter end.

"_The team was ruthless… they did everything that they could to win. We had won the match, but something happened. I lost something important that day… The will to fight."_ Sora thought as she remembered that day she lost her parents.

She then looked at Kageyama and Hinata who were staring at her, slightly shrunk back in apprehension of her aggressive demeanor.

"Ever since I meet Hinata and Kageyama… I felt their will to fight. I want to know that feeling again and stand on the court as long as I can," Sora shouted, earning everyone's attention.

Kageyama was overwhelmed with the day he was benched, the pain of solitude rushing back into his body.

Hinata mulled over the time he lost his first match, the sting of defeat still fresh on his knees.

"_No…"_ Hinata thought.

"_I want to stand with them…"_ Sora thought.

"_I want to be…"_ Kageyama thought.

"_On the court as long as I can."_ The three inwardly roared.

Tsukishima sighed.

"But he doesn't have what it takes. This isn't a matter of psychology. He can't make up for height with feelings. If he could play libero, that would be a different matter," Tsukishima uttered.

"To break the wall in front of the spiker… That's the setter's job," Kageyama posed resolutely as he stood beside the two teens. He then grabbed Hinata and pulled him away.

"What, Kageyama?" Hinata said trying to resist the pull. He then looked at Sora and ushered that she follow him. She sighed and walked towards the two boys.

"What's the big idea-"

"Listen. If you can't spike it, avoid it. Use every ounce of physical ability you have. Use your reflexes and spike my tosses." Kageyama interrupted, placing a firm hand on the boy's head as he elaborated.

"_Is this really how you explain a fast attack?"_ Sora thought.

"Understood," Hinata declared.

"Liar! You don't understand it," Tanaka and Sora shouted.

"We'll do it anyway," Kageyama and Hinata yelled together.

Sora sighed.

"You too are really stubborn… But if you are willing to do so, let me help you two out," Sora said smirking. Both boys nodded.

"What got into you three all of a sudden," Tanaka posed. "You were sniveling like an introverted brat," he barked pointing at Kageyama.

"I'm not introverted," Kageyama declared.

"Liar," Tanaka shouted.

The match resumed with Sora up for the serve again.

"Tanaka-senpai, please be prepared," Sora stated.

"Understood," Tanaka shouted, placing his flattened hand to his forehead.

Sora performed yet another jump serve aimed towards Sawamura.

As the dutiful captain he was, he expertly received her throw, but flinched.

Somehow, something was different; it didn't feel right.

"_This ball has a rotating on the ball… No, there is power behind it too,"_ Sawamura said returning the ball back, but he fell to his knee.

Sora's mouth edged up.

"The power makes it difficult to return the ball at easy. With the rotation, it makes you have to hit a weaker receive back," she explained.

Hinata braced for the receive before sprinting towards the net. Kageyama tossed towards Hinata, thought he completely missed it, earning a round of stares.

"_It's that fast?"_ Sora thought.

"Hey! What are you doing? You have to be faster-" Kageyama stopped at mid-sentence and looked away.

"And there it is, the King's Toss," Tsukishima said with a mocking voice, gaining a harsh glare from Kageyama.

"It's hard to get it right the first time," Kageyama ground out.

"I wonder."

The match continued on, Kageyama still grasping for victory with his tosses aimed towards Hinata, but damned it, he still kept missing them. The last toss Hinata tipped it, but flew into the net. He began to wiggle like a fish that just came aboard a boat after it jumped out the water. Sweat dropped down Kageyama and Sora's head.

"What is this, net fishing," Tanaka yelled angrily.

Hinata started to become discouraged. "I don't know how to time it at all," Hinata said.

"You've got fast reflexes so go like "pah," like "gwah." Kageyama said trying to explain with his own dialect of weird body movements.

"Kageyama that is not a good way to explain things," Sora intoned.

"Kageyama," Sugawara called.

The four teens turned around.

"You're repeating what you did in junior high," Sugawara explained.

Sora, Hinata, and Kageyama looked at their upperclassmen.

"Um…"

"Hinata has the reflexes, speed, and the springing power. If he gets used to it, he can do fast attacks," Kageyama explained.

"But Hinata's weapon, which is his speed… your toss is killing it, don't you think," Sugawara stated.

Kageyama's eyes widened.

"He's right. Hinata has no technique or experience," Sora said.

"Mizuki-san," Hinata hummed with a pout.

"He's not an outstanding player who can match your ability. But his potential is tops," Sugawara noted.

Hinata grinned.

"Don't call me a genius or anything. That's an exaggeration."

"He never said that," Tanaka quipped, immediately bringing Hinata back to Earth.

"If you can do it… You need to synch with Hinata's style, or his talent, or…" Sugawara tried to explain.

Sora giggled. "I think what Sugawara-senpai is trying to say it that you trust Hinata. A setter and spiker have to have complete trust in each other," she explained.

Kageyama looked at her and then at Hinata.

"You have technique. You have overwhelming drive to win, and you have an extraordinary awareness of your surroundings. So there's no way you can't see what your teammate is doing," Sugawara said determinedly as he tossed the ball towards Kageyama.

"_What's the best thing to do here? What is it_?" Kageyama thought worriedly, his face crinkled with thought. He then began remember what Hinata said earlier and then turned to the small boy.

"I… I envy your athletic reflexes," Kageyama grumbled, though he stood tall with resolve.

"Huh?"

Hinata looked at the tall boy with confusion.

"But you waste your treasure and that infuriates me."

"Huh?"

"So I'm going to use all your abilities," Kageyama assured with an unwavering finger pointed at Hinata.

"What," Tanaka looked at Kageyama with a confused stare.

"Hinata would have to use 40% and 60% jumping power. That way, Kageyama will be able to bring the ball to Hinata," Sora proposed.

"Ah, that's right," Kageyama said.

"Bring the ball? What's that mean," Hinata asked.

"Get to where there's no blocker at your max speed, and jump," Kageyama said.

"And with that, no blocker will be able react quick enough to block your spikes," Sora explained.

"Oh, you really now you stuff Mizuki-san," Tanaka said excitedly.

Sora rubbed the back of her head.

"Arigato, but I just observed Kageyama and Hinata."

"Iie, if it wasn't for your serves, annalistic, and… your determination," Kageyama's words came out slightly jumbled and halting, his face unnerving tense due to the fact that he was not only complimenting someone so openly—but the person he was complimenting was also a girl of identical age to himself. He flicked his eyes to the side, his expression a bit stubborn.

"You've help a lot," He finally mumbled.

Sora's eyes widened.

"Did you just compliment me," she asked.

Kageyama looked away, unable to muster even a small, 'hn' in retort.

"Mizuki-san… your knowledge has really helped me improve. If it wasn't for you and Sugawara-senpai, I would probably not be able to improve my receives. So, I'm glad you're on our side," Hinata said brightly.

Sora looked at the two boys. She began to remember how it felt when standing toe to toe with teammates once again.

She smiled.

"Arigato, you two. But now is not the time to get buddy buddy. Hinata, you have to trust in Kageyama to receive his tosses," she explained.

"Eh? How do I do that," Hinata asked.

"She right. You don't have to watch my toss. You don't have to synch with the ball," Kageyama said.

"What? But if I don't see the ball, I'll spike at air," Hinata said.

"That's why I said you have trust him. We have to try," Sora returned. Hinata looked at the two and nodded.

"All right," Hinata said.

"What are they going to try now? No one can spike the King's egocentric toss," Tsukishima said with a long grin.

"No kidding," Yamaguchi chirped from behind with a freckled grin. Sora looked at the two boys with her teeth slightly bared from under her callous smirk.

"What are you two saying… the match isn't over!"

She walked back to get in her position.

By now, the score was 11 to 16 with it being Sawamura's serve.

Sora observed the two boys and grinned.

Kageyama took a deep breath and began to focus.

"_Amazing concentration."_ Tanaka thought.

"_They can do it. All they have to do is trust in one another."_ Sora thought. Sora received Sawamura's serve and watched as off, tossing the ball towards Hinata the angle absolutely perfect. The ball soared through the air, slamming past a thoroughly stunned Yamaguchi.

"Good," Kageyama yelled with excitement while Hinata just stood stony and frozen in shock.

"My hand… It hit my hand," he suddenly chirped, budding with excitement.

"Nice, Hinata," Sora said grinning.

Tsukishima offered his fellow first years a rather bored expression.

"He's so over the top."

"Hey. Hinata's eyes were closed just then," Sawamura mused, surprised to what just happened.

"What," Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Kageyama yelled in unison.

"You guys didn't notice," Sora asked.

"Eh, you knew," Kageyama yelled.

"Of course, you told him to close his eyes. Also, from the moment he jumped up until he spiked, Hinata had his eyes closed. That means Kageyama tossed it directly into Hinata's palm when he wasn't even looking. He synched the toss to the moment he'd swing, with total accuracy," Sora explained.

Everyone was dumbfounded, their faces marred by surprise, with Sora trying her best to hold back her laughter.

"Awesome. Awesome. Hey, what was that? What was that? It hit my hand. Right then. Hey," Hinata howled, trying to gain everyone's attention as he bounced across the court.

"Hey, you! Why did you have your eyes closed," Kageyama asked with a shocked expression.

"You told me not to watch the ball."

"That's true. You really did," Sora nodded as she agreed with the small teen.

"When my eyes are open, I can't help but watch the ball."

"I said that, but…"

"It worked thought, right? What's wrong with that," Hinata asked grinning.

"Sure, but who trust anyone 100 percent," Kageyama uttered.

Sora raised her hand.

"I do, me and my best friend are like that."

"Nobody asked you," Kageyama barked.

"But Hinata trusted you. Not like he has a choice right now. Once you trust your partner, you both can achieve anything," Sora yelled back.

Kageyama looked at the girl and then at Hinata.

"_This guy's spring, his mobility… I can enhance them with my toss!"_ Kageyama inwardly grinned. He then looked back at Sora who was instructing Hinata.

"_If it wasn't for her help… I wouldn't have realized any of this_." He thought, almost reluctantly.

"All right. If Hinata's spike scores the marks will even out, which makes it easier for Tanaka-san and Mizuki-san to spike, too," Kageyama said.

Sora looked at the tall boy with a confused look.

"Me, but my job is to observe and receive right now."

"No, your spikes during practice last time are useful. You just need to wait for your chance."

Sora smirked.

"All right," she said firmly.

The match then resumed with Kageyama tossing the ball, though his strength proved a little too superior, forcing Hinata hit the ball with his head and fall backwards.

"Sorry," Kageyama said.

"_I wonder if the last one was pure luck_." Sora thought as she looked at the score: 15 to 22 in the first set and Tsukishima's team was up. She then looked back and saw Kageyama and Hinata arguing, causing her right eye to twitch.

"Oi! Stop arguing," she yelled.

"Sorry," the two returned in unison, as if their mother had just chastised them.

"I don't get it. That last one must've been sheer luck. Yet he keeps trying the same thing," Tsukishima said looking at the smaller boy.

"But maybe Hinata will keep jumping without watching the ball. Truly, I don't get it either. No one can trust someone 100 percent… Well Mizuki-san said she and her friend do, but… Not to mention your own rival," Sawamura said grinning.

"Darn, this isn't working," Hinata complained and he rubbed his red cheek.

Sora giggled.

"Demo, it make everything more interesting," Sora said grinning. Everyone went to get into position. Yamaguchi served and Tanaka received it.

"All right, I got it," Tanaka yelled.

"Nice receive," Kageyama said as he prepared for the toss.

"He'll toss to the shrimp and fail again," Tsukishima said.

"No he won't," Sora yelled.

"What are you talking about. You saw what happened," the tall boy said.

"Even so… As long as you trust your partner… you can achieve anything."

Hinata came running passed Sora, heading for the net, earning a shell-shocked expression from Tsukishima. He called Yamaguchi to help with the block, but Hinata quickly turned and ran the other way, leaping high in the air as Kageyama made the toss.

"Sorry, but this is our point," Sora declared victoriously.

Tsukishima tried to block it, but Hinata hit it passed him. Sawamura tried to get it back but missed it. The ball collided with the floor with an echoing slam so satisfying, so powerful, and so clear to their senses.

The three first years looked at each other before pumping their fists, their eyes brimming with hellish determination, identical satisfied grins taking their faces.

"All right," they roared.

_This is how their partnership began._

* * *

And that is the end of chapter four! I hope you all liked it. If you all have any questions about Sora or any other they other oc's please review and I will answer them in the next chapter!

Good night or Good morning! :)

Sorry I am really hyper!

Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5: Joining the Team and Nerves

Hi everyone! I am really sorry for the long wait for chapter five. My computer was acting really stupid, so I had to take it to get it fixed and I lost all of my documents. I had to write the chapter over!

But that is ok! I promise to update as fast as I can before I go back to school.

We have our first question from Savage Kill! Yes, Bergliot and I are following the storyline while adding our personal touches to the story. There is a upcoming chapter where it will just be our ideas. So look forward to it.

I would like to thank all those who favorite and/or alert this story. It means a lot.

Those who review the story, please continue to do so.

Ok, with that said, enjoy the story!

**I don't own Haikyuu! Only the OC's**

* * *

Chapter 5: Becoming a Team, and A Girl's Resolve

"That damned little chibi… That entire damned team…"

It was the only thought Tsukishima could muster as the second set dragged on with painful slowness: each side ripping tooth and nail with all of their might for just a single point. First, his team would advance, then the oddball team, then his, theirs, his, theirs, his, theirs… God, it was endless. His heart was positively throbbing, about to jump out of his chest from actually having to put forth an effort—for the first time in a very long time—towards the match.

He even went as far to remove his sweatshirt: the cream swath of fabric quickly becoming drenched in sweat, feeling like a wet, concrete raincoat the more he tried to jump and block. He adjusted his glasses, scrunching his nose in a tight sneer before sprinting back towards his post between Yamaguchi and his elders.

It was frustrating, everything: the match, his opponents, the fact that Hinata was still closing his eyes and blindly swinging the air in front of him—regrettably distracting him, causing him to waste his energy jumping to block his nonexistent spike rather than focus on Kageyama aiming towards someone else.

For a bunch of—what he presumed to be—idiots on their part, his opponents did seem to share some sort of strategy—even if most of it was due to Kageyama, or their little, 'cheerleader,' Sora. Regardless, whatever they were doing seemed to be working, because he was fruitlessly jumping in front of a carrot-topped chibi when the ball was clearly being aimed behind Yamaguchi's head, out of Daichi or Ennoshita's reach.

The score had already risen 20 to 24, with his team unfortunately lagging behind the band of misfits before him.

For the love of God, they were panting like dogs, yet they didn't even remotely back down from standing up to fight again.

It forced a hard scowl on Tsukishima's face.

'_How pointless_,' he mused bitterly.

As if on cue, Kageyama and Hinata executed another successful quick attack, the sound of Kinoshita flipping the score cards in favor of his opponents quiet under Hinata and Tanaka's victorious yells.

"Yes," they cheered.

"Nice, you two," Sora said giving them both a high-five.

"Arigato, Mizuki-san," Hinata hummed while grinning at her. Sora in return gave the spiky hair boy a bright smile.

"Let's kept doing what works," Kageyama interjected.

"All right," Sora returned with a broad smirk.

* * *

The matched ended with Hinata's team winning with a well-earned 25-20. Sora openly grinned at the scoreboard: they had done it. They won the match.

She then turned around and looked at her three teammates, although it went without saying that they were not exactly in the most dignified positions: Hinata was passed out of the floor, Kageyama was holding onto the net for dear life, while Tanaka lurched over to converse with Sugawara and Sawamura.

She went over to where Hinata was laying down and extended her hand out to help him back to his feet. Hinata looked from under his orange bangs up at Sora, blushing a bit when he zeroed in on the wide smile she offered him. Regaining his composure, he grabbed her hand and struggled to his feet as Sora pulled him up.

"Good job," she said.

Hinata grinned at her as they walked over to Kageyama in order to help him up as well.

"Nice work," Sora offered.

"You too," Kageyama returned in a straightforward manner.

Sora leaned down towards the carrier of water, and handed her two teammates each a bottle, sighing after they all took a long sip.

"You guys really over did it in the end. You really need to work on your stamina," Sora stated in a somewhat scolding manner.

"What? You look just as tired," Kageyama retorted.

"I may look like it, but I'm not tired," Sora returned smirking.

"Huh," Kageyama exclaimed.

His mouth was still slight agape, as if he was about to say something else, but gave up and threw his head back with a small, 'Tch.' Sora giggled before she turned to look over at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

"Hey, we should go and make peace with them," she said. Hinata nodded in agreement, but Kageyama seemed a little more skeptical.

"Why? We don't have to," the setter replied as he gripped his water bottle a little tighter.

"Yes, we do. All right. Let's go," Hinata pressed.

Kageyama cringed but followed the two towards their fellow first years.

"Tsukishima," Hinata yelled.

The two turned around and saw Hinata running towards them before he stopped short before them, extending his hand out in front of him.

Tsukishima looked at him with a confused expression.

"What?" he said.

"We're supposed to shake hands before and after a match," Hinata clarified, "Though we didn't do that at first today. Besides, we're teammates now."

Hinata's face darkened somewhat, adding, "Though that doesn't make me happy."

Tsukishima just looked at them.

"Hurry up. Don't you know? They'll kick you out the gym if you don't show team spirit," Hinata whispered.

"The reason why you three got kicked out was because you ignored the captain, started your own competition, and finally, blew the dean's rug off his head," Tsukishima deadpanned.

The three previously exiled players flinched.

"N-Never mind the minor details. We still teammates, so let's a least try to get along," Sora said rubbing the back of her head.

"Shake our hands," Hinata pressed, jumping around as he tried to shake Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's hand.

"W-What are you doing," Tsukishima yelled.

Sora tried with all her might to hold her laughter back, but found she just couldn't. She burst into laughter while Kageyama just stood there gaping at the little orange idiot.

"What are those first-years doing," Tanaka asked, turning towards the corner where the masculine yells and feminine laughter rang loudly. Sawamura just grinned and Sugawara had sweat dropping the side of his head.

Eventually, Hinata got Tsukishima to shake his head, though Tsukishima made his disgust known by holding his wrist tightly as if he had been infected by Hinata's overly chipper attitude.

"Are you all right, Tsukki," Yamaguchi asked worriedly.

"Tsukishima," Sawamura called.

Tsukishima turned his attention towards the Captain.

"How did you like the four-on-four?"

"It made no difference to me. He's a king from an elite school, anyway. There's nothing strange about commoners losing to him," Tsukishima stated, looking away.

"Hmm… But then again, you played pretty seriously. Here," Sawamura beamed with delight as he handed the tall boy a towel to wipe the evidence of hard work from his face.

Tsukishima merely looked at him and took his offering.

"Captain," Hinata shouted.

The three flinched and turn their attention towards the small boy.

"What," he asked.

Hinata, Sora, and Kageyama handed him their applications with their chests held high. Sawamura took them and looked them over before turning towards Kiyoko.

"Shimizu. The stuff is here, right," he asked.

Shimizu nodded and turned foot in order to fetch the surprise meant for the first years, but was halted when she heard a light tapping of footsteps coming towards her.

"Senpai, do you need any help," Sora asked. Shimizu looked at her with a stoic expression, an expression that was oddly cold, though she did not intend it to be.

Sora flinched.

"Hai, there's two boxes. Can you grab one," Shimizu asked.

"Hai," Sora exclaimed with a bright smile.

The two girls then left the gym side by side, after a few minutes returning with their arms occupied by identical brown boxes. They then opened the two, inside resting black jersey jackets. Hinata grabbed one with quick, flighty fingers and looked over it with amazement. The two each grabbed a pair and put the uniform on.

"I think they should fit, but let me know if you need anything. Also, Mizuki-san, that box is yours," Shimizu said.

Sora looked at her with a confused look. She opened the box and the same uniform as the boys' was inside. Black sweats with the school and club name on it.

"We had to order yours because you are smaller than the others," Shimizu explained. Sora smiled and bowed.

"Arigato… Etto."

"Kiyoko Shimizu. Nice to meet you," the older girl clarified as she bowed.

"Nice to meet you, too."

Shimizu smiled gently at the girl, quickly hiding it once Tanaka nearly fell backwards recoiling that their usually stoic—though undoubtedly beautiful—manager, was actually able to grin. Sora returned the favor, only exaggerating Tanaka's expression.

Sora then tried her uniform on, absolutely beaming how perfectly it fit. She then looked over at the team: Sugawara was urging Tsukishima to put his uniform on, though the glasses-donning boy flat out he refused. But then once Tanaka began pressuring him, the entire team jumped in, all insisting him him that he just wear the damn jacket. Though his mouth was thinned into a straight line, the edges facing slightly down, he eventually succumbed to their incessant nagging.

"Ohhh," Tanaka and Sugawara chirped excitedly at the line of first years before them.

Hinata, Sora, Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi stood proudly—well a majority of them stood proudly—in their official uniforms.

"Mizuki-san. You look cute in your uniform," Tanaka yelled with excitement, Sawamura not too far behind raising his sleeve for reprimanding less the second year's comments venture any further.

"Hontoni? Arigato Tanaka-senpai." Sora said smiling, though her simple gesture nearly caused Tanaka to fall to his knees, hand holding his heart.

Sora could only laugh nervously.

"We're the Karasuno Volleyball Club from here on… Ready, and… Good to have you with us," the team shouted. Sora looked at Kageyama and Hinata, both looking back at her.

"Thanks," the five first years answered. Sora smiled: she was happy that she able to wear a uniform again, though as she looked over to see Hinata and Tanaka posing, a bead of sweat dropped down her head.

"You two are really something," Sora quipped.

"Hmm… could it be that you are impressed me," Tanaka asked grinning.

"No way," Sora defended with a slight turn of her head.

"Ah, when you and Shimizu-san reject me it turns me on," Tanaka said happily, holding himself tightly around the shoulders.

Sora nervously laughed, trying her best not to look perturbed, though as Sawamura came up behind and gave Tanaka a well earned slap against the back of his head, she had to stifle the giggles rising in her cheeks.

"Hey, Hinata, Mizuki-san, are you rested? You ready to go? Let's practice "quick" again. We also need to add Mizuki-san's serves," Kageyama called.

"Yeah." Hinata shouted with a grin as he took off his jersey jacket.

"You bet. But can stop calling Mizuki-san? Sora is fine. You too, Hinata," Sora said grinning.

"Hontoni," Hinata asked excitedly.

"Un, I don't mind. We are partners and I'm use to people calling me by my Sora since I'm from America. We don't really call each other by our surnames," Sora explained.

"Jaa, Sora-san let's work hard together," Hinata chirped.

Sora then turned around and looked at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

"Hai, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi can also call me Sora."

"Eh, are you sure," Yamaguchi asked, trying to hide a bit of a budding grin.

"Ah, even though you two are really got on my nerves during the match. It's over and done with," Sora assured. Tsukishima looked at Sora briefly, eyebrow slightly raised, before he looked away.

"Tch, whatever," he answered under his breath.

"Ok! Let's practice," Sora shouted as she walked over to Hinata and Kageyama.

"Tanaka-san, please bring the balls," Kageyama asked.

"You're moving around already," Tanaka drawled, completely shocked to see that three first years were actually about to practice after a rough four-on-four match.

Suddenly, the door opened and a man with black messy hair, dark brown eyes, and glass came into the gym out of breath, almost sweating in his light green tracksuit, fumbling over his white shoes.

"It's decided! It's decided! The practice match. It's against one of the top four teams in the prefecture. Aoba Josai High school," the man called as he came into the gym.

"The one nicknamed Seijo," Sugawara mused, surprised to hear the news.

"Yikes," Tsukishima quipped.

"No way," Yamaguchi said worriedly.

"That's amazing, nee Hinata, Kageyama," Sora asked as she looked at the two boys, expecting a reaction equivalent to her own.

Their expressions, however, were quite varied: Hinata was bubbling over with excitement, nearly shaking out of his shorts, but Kageyama in return seemed to sharpen, his face stiffening.

"Oh. You three are the controversial Hinata-kun, Mizuki-chan, and Kageyama-kun," the older man hummed as he walked towards them.

"Who's he? A teacher," Hinata whispered.

"No idea," Sora whispered back.

"I'm the volleyball club advisor starting this year. I'm Takeda Ittetsu," Takeda-sensei said.

"Uso," the three freshmen returned in unison.

"I have no volleyball experience so I can't help with you technique, but for anything else, I'll do my very best. It's good to meet you," Takeda replied confidently.

"Uso," the three responded.

"Sensei," Sawamura said, still shocked from the news.

"Ah. I've been running around everywhere setting up the practice-match. I haven't had time to drop in here," Takeda said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"But, sensei, how did you get a powerhouse like Seijo to agree," Sugawara asked.

"You didn't get on your knees and beg again, did you," Sawamura assumed.

"No, no. I'm good at getting on my knees and begging, but I didn't do that this time," Takeda reassured.

Sawamura and Sugawara sighed in relief.

"But they had a condition," Takeda continued.

"A condition?" Sawamura asked.

"Kageyama-kun must play setter the entire game," Takeda finished.

Sora looked at Kageyama and Sugawara: both wearing varied shades of shock to hear Aoba Josai's condition.

"What's that about? Sounds like they're not interested in Karasuno. They just want to assess Kageyama. Are they underestimating us? Are they," Tanaka barked with a dark shadow crinkling his face.

"Well, that's not quite how it is," Takeda said trying to reassure the scary second year.

"Sounds good. We don't get chances like this that often," Sugawara hummed.

"You're going to agree to that, Suga-san? You're the official setter of Karasuno, Suga-san," Tanaka shouted in return.

"I… I want to see how effective Hinata, Sora, and Kageyama's attack will be against a top four team," Sugawara answered determinedly.

Hinata, Kageyama, and Sora's eyes widened. Tanaka looked at his elder with an expression disbelief, though Sugawara was quick to give him as well as Sawamura a reassuring nod.

"Sensei, may we have the details?" Sawamura asked.

"Sure. Um… the schedule is rather sudden, but it's set for Tuesday next week. It'll be after classes, so there will only time for one game…" Takeda said as he continued to explain the details.

Her ear half opened, Sora could not control the smile that took her face as she looked at the band of volleyball players around her: she was finally part of a team again.

She then reverted her attention to Sugawara.

"_Is… he really ok with this,"_ Sora thought.

Practice was then dismissed, each player departing to change. Sora went to the girl's locker room to grab her things and then left to go to meet up with everyone. Suddenly a gust of wind passed her. She blinked a couple of times and then looked in the direction of the person who outright sprinted ahead of her.

It was Kageyama.

"_What's up with him_," she mused.

She decided to run after him, but she kept her distance so she wouldn't be discovered.

"Sugawara-san!"

And there he went, bolting off after the elder setter as they descended past the Foothill Store. Sora felt compelled to crinkle her brow: one minute Kageyama would be firmly absorbed with one thing, and then within the next second, he'd either be off running towards something in the distance, or his eyes would narrow into razor-blue bullets—indicating that he was intensely focused on something else entirely.

"_He's as dense as they come,"_ Sora mused inwardly.

Shaking her head as she made her way down the hill, Sora skulked behind the vending machine merely footsteps behind the two, shifting her petite body to be skillfully hidden. She felt a little guilty for tuning in on their conversation: but due to Sugawara's downtrodden expression, and Kageyama's unnatural sense of duty, she was after all interested in what Kageyama had to say after being handed the position of starting setter, having little say in the matter.

"I have to play setter by default this time," she heard him pant, "but from now on, I will earn my place."

Sora smiled. She made sure nobody noticed her and came from behind the vending machine. She then heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Tanaka and Hinata running down the hill, more like, barreling down the hill.

"Suga-san, Sora-chan, Daichi-san said he'll buy us pork buns," Tanaka waved excitedly.

"_Pork bun? I never had one,"_ Sora thought.

As they made their way down the hill, Sora, Tanaka, and Hinata joined the conversation between Kageyama and Sugawara. Sawamura went inside the store to order the pork buns for his teammates.

"But you know, Kageyama, Aoba Josai is where most of the athletes from Kitagawa Daiichi move on to, right," Sugawara asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," Kageyama replied.

"I'm just wondering if you might be uncomfortable with that," Sugawara stated.

"I might be if they were on the same team. But if they're my opponents, I'll fight with all I've got," Kageyama returned with an air of determination.

"I see. I suppose you would," Sugawara said with a kind smile.

Sora smiled as she watched the conversation go on, eager to interject herself in the conversation as well. She was about to say something, though stopped herself when Sawamura came out with two brown paper bags.

"Plus, we have to show them that Kageyama's not the only one they have to worry about. Right, Hinata, Sora," Sawamura hummed. He turned around to see Hinata hunched over, stuffing his face with pork buns and… a missing Sora?!

"Guys, where did Sora-chan go," Tanaka shouted.

"Up here!"

The team looked up to find Sora with her legs firmly intertwined around an outstretched branch, lightly pawing towards a small, fussing kitten.

"Sora-san!" Hinata yelled with a mouth still full of pork and boiled flour. He held his arms out above him, the bag of Nikuman still grasped in his left while he held a half-eaten bun in his right, and again tried to holler through his mouthful of food.

"Sora-chan, I'll catch you!"

Not a moment later, Kageyama darted in from the side, grabbing a fistful of Hinata's hair, digging his fingers into his scalp.

"You dumbass, what are you going to do, throw food at her?!"

"And why are you eating first," Tanaka shouted.

"Well, how are we going to get her down," Hinata cried, choking on a bit of pork as it unwillingly went down.

"Tsukishima's the tallest," Kageyama retorted, pointing behind him as blonde hair boy and his friend were coming down the hill The two boys looked them with a confused look and then looked at the tree and saw Sora tangled in its branches.

Tsukishima immediately grimaced, recoiling slightly away as he muttered, "I refuse."

"You know, I can get down myself," Sora hollered, her shoulders turned towards them, but her legs still tied around the branch.

"Sora-san, that's unsafe, let us help you down," Sugawara tried calmly, with his palms held out in front of him.

"I got up here myself, I can get back down myself," she returned.

"OI OI," came a hard, calloused voice. "Volleyball Club, stop making such a ruckus!"

They flinched at the headband-donning shop manager's sudden reprimanding, stepping slightly away when he stomped out of the stop with a duster clutched tightly in his hand, his cigarette drooping from the side of his lip. They immediately quieted down, standing stiffly in place as they waited for his brief temper to slowly subside.

"Now go home and have a proper meal," he scolded before returning into his shop.

When the team members overcame their brief shock, they returned their attention to the tree, but found the recently occupied branch empty.

"Eh, where'd she go," Tanaka barked, holding his hand over his brow like a visor.

"I'm right here," came a firm, feminine voice from behind. They whipped around to find Sora—completely unharmed and unruffled—holding the kitten in her arms.

They just stared at her, unblinking, completely speechless.

"What," she asked.

"How the Hell did you get down," Kageyama shouted.

"Oh, I jumped down from the tree while the shop keeper was yelling at you guys," Sora explained.

The boys sighed. The cat then suddenly jumped out Sora arms and ran away.

"It left," Sora mumbled, slightly saddened.

"It must be going home to his family. Anyway here, eat up," Sawamura said handing Sora a fresh Nikuman.

She began to examine the pork bun diligently, turning it and twisting it, looking it all over as if it would suddenly sprout a pairo f eyes and a mouth.

"What's wrong, have never had a pork pun before," Hinata asked innocently.

"Un, I never had one," she confirmed.

"Are serious?! You have to try it," Tanaka exclaimed.

Sora looked at the pork bun and then looked at the team, a bit taken back that they looked so eager to see her reaction. She took a small bite and almost immediately, her eyes widened.

"It's…good," Sora hummed with a wide grin. Feeling the hunger from their practice match consumed, she then proceeded to wolf down her Nikuman with a fervor her teammates had not explicitly witnessed in such a small girl before.

They could help but grin at her as they watched her happily ate another pork pun, chuckling when she didn't even hesitate to eat the entire thing in three solid bites.

* * *

The next day, they began to discuss the starting line-up for the up-coming match against Aoba Josai: Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima and herself were in the starting line-up, though as she looked at the board to the positions listed, she noticed that little, carrot-topped Hinata was going to be a middle blocker.

She was actually surprised, but she kind of had a hunch why and she was right.

"You're the ultimate decoy," Kageyama shouted.

Hinata was excited for the moment after hearing that he would be part of the starting lineup, but was then discouraged by Kageyama's exclamation.

"There's something uninspiring about that."

"This will allow you score lots of points using "quick," and direct the opponent's blockers' attention to you," Kageyama elaborated.

"Oh," Hinata chirped, springing up.

"With the attention towards you, this allows the wing spikers to focus on attacks with ease. So you have a main role," Sora clarified.

"Big guys like Tsukishima will fall like idiots to your movements. That'll feel good, right," Kageyama said smirking.

Hinata then became more excited at the thought of crushing opponents similar to the most troublesome first year, though Yamaguchi showed to be understandably upset at the two boys insulting his friend. But his defending didn't really help because Tsukishima only scolded him with a curt, "Shut up, Yamaguchi."

Sora sighed.

"_These guys… Why can't they just get along,"_ she thought.

"Demo, if you're not effective, know that the other attacks will all fail," Kageyama stated.

Hinata flinched.

"Chotto. Don't put so much pressure on him," Sawamura whispered.

"If you put too much pressure on him, he's going to psych himself out," Sora justified.

"All fail… all fail… all fail…" Hinata repeated worriedly.

"You see," Sawamura and Sora yelled in unison as that pointed to dark aura around Hinata.

That afternoon, Sora said goodbye to her friends and made her way to the gym. On her way, she saw Yamaguchi walking past her classroom.

"Yamaguchi," Sora called out. The tall boy turned around and saw Sora.

"Sora-san."

"Are you going to gym," she asked.

"Hai, but I am going to meet up with Tsukki," Yamaguchi explained.

"Sokka. Jaa, is it ok if I walk with you?"

"Eh? S-Sure, but you don't have to," Yamaguchi stuttered.

Sora chuckled.

"It's fine. Besides, I haven't really had the chance to really talk to you or Tsukishima after the match Saturday, so it's fine," Sora replied.

"S-Sokka," Yamaguchi said with a hint of blush. The two began to walk to Tsukishima's classroom. While walking, they had a friendly conversation, which Sora enjoyed very much. When they arrived at Tsukishima's class, Tsukishima was already waiting outside.

"Tsukki," Yamaguchi hollered.

The tall boy turned his attention towards his friend to see Sora with him.

"What's she doing here," he asked rudely.

"We bumped into to each other and she asked to come along," Yamaguchi explained a little more timidly than he intended to.

"Hmmm, not tailing behind the King and the chibi, I see."

Sora right eye began to twitch.

"_Calm down… calm down… he's your teammate,"_ Sora chanted in her head.

"I just thought I would walk with you two. Is that a problem," she asked in an irritated tone.

Tsukishima and Sora just stared at each, each unwavering, both unblinking.

"Do whatever you want," he retorted lightly and began to walk away. Yamaguchi followed behind him and Sora sighed, but then proceeded to walk beside Yamaguchi.

They then arrived at the changing rooms and as they were going upstairs they saw Hinata quietly walking towards them. Tsukishima purposely bumped into Hinata and made a smart remark, but Hinata didn't respond, only mumbled incoherently as he passed on by.

Sora was fairly worried: after all, it was technically his first official match. She was a little apprehensive, but she told herself that he would be ok.

_But, the day of the match…_

They all filed on the bus. Sora was sitting in the back seat in front of Tanaka in all of his gluttonous glory, and a somewhat green-looking Hinata.

She was quietly reading her book, trying to ignore the noising going on around her; Tanaka was just entirely too loud offering everyone snacks. She was rather surprised that his fellow third years didn't even flinch at the sound of his voice—though perhaps just ignoring him was the best option.

"Hey, Hinata. I'll give you something to eat…. What is that look on you face," Tanaka shouted.

Sora closed her book and turned around to see a paled faced Hinata.

"Hinata? Daijobu desu ka," Sora asked, concerned.

"I couldn't sleep last night…" Hinata groaned, lurching over with a mangled expression across his face.

"Hinata?"

"The window… can I open the window," Hinata mumbled, slowly making his way to the window. But it was too late. He had thrown up all over Tanaka's pants.

"AHHHHHH…. Stop the bus," Tanaka screamed. The bussed halted immediately, everyone turning back to what had happened.

"_Uh oh…" _Sawamura said in his head.

"_This is…"_ Sugawara said to himself.

"…_worse than…"_ Kageyama said to himself.

"…_much worse…"_ Sora thought worriedly to herself.

"… _we expected!" _the four inwardly yelled.

* * *

They soon arrived at Aoba Josai. After getting off the bus, Hinata kept apologizing to Tanaka who kept reassuring him that it was ok, despite holding his vomit laden shorts tied tightly in the trash bag out in front of him. Sora only sighed and then looked at Kageyama, keeping her eyes on him until he noticed her staring, lifting an eyebrow in response.

"Is he really going ok," Sora whispered.

"I don't know, but if he does, I fix it," Kageyama returned firmly.

Sweat dripped down Sora's head.

"When you say it like, it worries me," Sora muttered to herself.

They all began walking towards the gymnasium when they all over heard two of the Aoba Josai boy's conversation. It was overall negative in tone—rather insulting, actually—speaking of their, 'fallen' status and lackluster skills.

But the straw that broke the crow's back was when they spoke ill of the, 'riff-raff,' individual with the, 'unpleasant' look in his eyes.

As if on cue, Tanaka peeped his head around the corner and gave one of his famous intimidating smiles, forcing the two boys to flinch.

Tanaka, Tsukishima, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi, stalked up with the intention of frightening the boys—not enough to actually get them in any academic trouble, but enough to silence their sour words—until the ever-dutiful Sawamura slid over, scolding them all loudly.

"We apologize," Sawamura said bowing and making Tanaka bow.

"Oh, it's all right," one of the boys assured.

Sora chuckled nervously until she made eye contact with the wing spiker that Kageyama had played with in that match she saw last year.

"You. You're from that time," the boy said.

"Eh? You know her," his teammate asked.

"She's the girl that told off Kageyama last year."

"Majimuni? Jaa, are you the rumored manager," the boy with brown hair asked.

"No, I'm a regular," Sora stated in a somewhat standoffish manner.

"Masaka! You're a girl! A really cute girl!"

The team turned around and saw a dark aura forming around Sora. Her right eye was dangerously twitching and she gripped her duffle bag tightly.

"Excuse me. But let me something clear to you. I may be a girl, but doesn't give you any right to say that. Now if you will excuse me," Sora growled angrily and turned foot.

She walked passed her teammates; still fuming about the utter audacity that Aoba member had to seriously expect any less of her just because of her gender.

Damn right, she was girl, but that didn't mean she was any less athletically inclined then they were—regardless of her appearance, regardless of whether she was, 'cute,' or not.

"_I'm going to make them regret meeting me." _

Sora stomped off, biting her lip into a hard sneer, her brow furrowing as her frustration slowly painted the surface of her skin.

She'd make them eat their words.

Every. Last. One of them.

_This was when Sora cemented her resolve:_

_She wouldn't hold back._

* * *

Oh dear, I kind of feel bad for Aoba Josai.

...

Oh well :p

They shouldn't have insulted Sora like that. I really hate when guys think that they are sooo much better than girls. Girls can do anything a guy can. Sorry, it just get's under my skin when I think about it. Don't worry, I think guys are cool and everything. Some of my best guy friends are just awesome!

I forgot to mention this in the begin, but Bergliot drew a picture of what Sora looks like! I love the picture and would like to hear you opinions.

Here is the link: bergliot-manner. tumblr post/90485058920/drawing-haikyuu-ocs-because-i-love-to-work-on-a

I like to see drawings of Sora, so if you want to draw her, please PM me.

Ok, leave reviews!

Good Night! or Good Morning!


	6. Chapter 6: Jealousy and New Teammate

Hey guys! I am so happy that this story is getting so many favorites and followers. I hope to get more people to like the story. I want to make a special thanks to three people who have been a big help to me.

The first person is callionope. She was the first person to give me advice about the Haikyuu story since it is my first time writing for this anime/manga. Thank you so much. Also, you all should read or continue to read her story **Unwavering Wings.**

The second person I would like to give thanks to is Bergliot. She has been just a amazing partner with this story and I am so happy that she has taken time out of her busy schedule to help me. You all should read her story **Of Swans and Apple Trees**.

The last person I would like to thank is... You guys! To the people who read this story from all over the world. Thank you all so much. I hope that you will continue to follow Sora's journey.

With all this said, Let's get on with the Chapter 6!

* * *

Chapter 6: Jealousy and New Teammate

As Sora was walking into the school, she continued to think about what the boy said, trying her best not to let it irritate her, though her efforts were fruitless. Just because she was a girl, did not mean that she wasn't an excellent volleyball player. Her anger began to build up even more, until she realized something important… the gym. Well, of course, she still had a match to play! She looked at her surroundings and found herself near classrooms with student happily making their way home with friends or going to club activities.

"_I'm… lost,"_ She mentally yelled in her head.

Sora sighed. Out of all the times to get lost, it had to be now. She looked around and saw two girls walking towards her and asked where the gym was. One of the girls directed her to go down the hallway, take a right passed the office, keep going till she has seen the restrooms, and the gym should be on her right. She bowed and then left. She continued to walk until she saw the restrooms.

As she walking, she overheard some boys talking about Karasuno. Instinctively, she hid behind the wall to listen to the conversation, curious about what they could possibly have to say about her team.

"What's the matter with these guys from Karasuno? All they've got is a big attitude. Especially that girl," one of the boys said.

"That's true," the other with the spiky hair replied.

Sora was about to come from behind the wall to halt their conversation altogether, but then noticed a tuft of orange coming from out the bathroom. Realizing that it must have been Hinata, she stopped herself and stayed where she was.

"Hey. You're a first-year at Karasuno," the boy with spiky hair noted.

"Y-Yeah, I am," Hinata replied.

"Well, then how is Kageyama doing? Our King seems pompous, as usual," the boy stated, giving him a haughty smirk.

"That's not how he is. It's not about being pompous. Under the dictatorship of the great King Kageyama, commoners like me are cruelly oppressed, made to bitterly suffer," Hinata yelled.

"Just because he's a little skilled! Who does he think he is," he complained.

"What did I tell you?"

The other boy chuckled.

"He's utterly despised," he said grinning.

"There's no doubting his skill at receiving, blocking, and serving," the spiky hair boy stated.

"So-So. It's aggravating," Hinata grumbled, agreeing with him.

"But his toss is the worst."

"But his toss is amazing."

The two boys looked at each other.

"His toss," The boy with the spiky hair asked.

"Is amazing," Hinata finished.

The boy sighed.

"You've never spiked one of his tosses in a match before, have you? They're terrible. They're too difficult to spike," the boy indicated.

"Is that so," Hinata asked, as if he were genuinely confused that Kageyama's tosses would actually be a challenge to hit.

"Because he's a self-centered king. He's a setter, and yet he can't do his most important job. Letting the spiker spike the ball. What Kageyama needs are pawns he can maneuver as he wills."

Hinata just looked at him in a contemplative silence.

"And what's with a girl on your team? Is she there to make other teams sorry for you so they can take it easy on you guys? I think it's a mockery to have a girl play on a boys' team," the friend of the spiky hair boy exclaimed, quirking an arrogant brow.

"She probably just pinch serves or something," the spiky hair boy drawled, grinning.

Sora just stood behind the wall with her head held down. Something about their tone, the way they dressed their words just made her feel… raw, as if they had kicked her feet out from underneath her. Disbelief was one thing, but they were outright _insulting_ her, and for once, she didn't have the courage to step up and answer back.

"Sora-san isn't like that," Hinata barked, a tone surprisingly aggressive for someone who had sprinted to the bathroom not even a minute ago to expel his nerves.

Sora picked her head up and poked her head around the corner seeing that the small middle blocker was fuming at what the boys were saying.

"Sora-san is amazing player. She can tell a person's ability just by looking at them. She has an awesome serve and her jumps are cool too. But the best part about her is her will to stand with others! So don't insult her," the small boy shouted. There was a darkness to the way he looked at the duo, a complete one eighty of what he had shown upon entering the gym, something… intimidating.

Sora's eyes widened. She suddenly felt a small little flutter in her stomach.

"_W-What is this feeling?"_ Sora thought. Surely she hadn't caught Hinata's illness, had she?

"Hmhmhm," a voiced hummed.

It was Tanaka stand up against the wall next to the bathroom with his arms crossed, donning a grim smile.

"Let's wait until the match to see if Kageyama is still the same as he was in junior high, turnip-kun," he sneered.

"Huh," he yelled angrily.

"Also," Tanaka began, lifting his chest slightly, "Sora is someone you shouldn't insult. She is the key to winning this match today. Right Hinata?"

Everyone turned their attention towards Hinata, finding that he looked beyond pale, all quirking a brow as he sprinted into the restroom.

"_Ahh, back to his old self again."_

Sora sighed, but was happy that Hinata and Tanaka had defended her. But when she thought of Hinata, she felt her heart skip a beat again. Everything coming out of his mouth just sounded so genuine, like he wasn't stumbling over what to say, like he knew exactly what he was professing, saying it all without hesitation.

He really respected her that much? To say all of that?

"_Ughhhh…. What is going on?"_ Sora mentally shouted in her head, slapping her cheeks in effort to snap out of it.

She then headed to the gym where the team had already started to warm up.

"Sora, where did you go," Sawamura asked, strolling up towards the girl as she entered the gym.

"Gomen, I got lost," she replied sheepishly.

Sawamura sighed, shaking his head in a wearied manner.

"It's fine, start warming up."

"Hai,"

Sora joined the rest of the team: she got in line to warm up receives until it was time to start the match. Shaking out her muscles, she straightened up when the whistle blew signaling for everyone to line up at the back of the court.

"We will now begin the practice match of Karasuno High School versus Aoba Josai High School," the referee announced.

"Let's play,"

Everyone bowed. The teams walked to get into position.

"That shrimp is a middle blocker? That's gotta be some kind of mistake," he turnip haired one quipped with a sly smile.

"That's Kageyama for real. What's he doing at Karasuno," the boy wondered.

"Who knows? But do you see the position the girl is playing at? I can't believe she's a wing spiker," the boy with a number five on his back said.

Sora just stood there, ignored their comments towards her. She looked at her team and saw Hinata shaking in fear, which made her worry.

"_I really hope this goes well,"_ Sora thought.

* * *

"_This is not going well, at all."_

Sora looked at the scoreboard, the numbers reading 24 to 13 in the first set with Karasuno desperately lagging behind with Aoba holding the match point so idly in their hands. Hinata was nervous—no, it was way beyond nervous—he was falling into people, falling down and missing easy shots. She even had to hold Kageyama back because he looked like he was going to outright kill the small boy right there on the court with his own two hands.

"_This is not good… Oh no,"_ Sora mused as her face went pale: at such a crucial point in the game, it just _had_ to be Hinata's serve. The small boy winced and he served the ball, but it was a missed hit right into Kageyama's head.

Everyone eyes widened.

"_Oh no…"_

Suddenly, a dark aura formed around Kageyama. He turned around and gave Hinata a nasty glare—something far more terrifying than his usual stare. The whistle blew, indicating that the first match was over. Tanaka and Tsukishima burst into laughter and began to make fun of the setter, until Sugawara and Sawamura told them to stop, not that the duo weren't still shivering with stifled laughter.

Kageyama then turned around and started to lurch towards Hinata, his long legs almost stomping the ground underneath as he approached the middle blocker.

"W-W-Wait. Once we talk about this, you'll understand," Hinata stuttered, trying to reassure the situation.

But it didn't work. The tall boy didn't listen and kept walking until he was standing over stop of Hinata.

"Just wondering… Why are you so intimidated? Why are you so nervous? Is it because the opponents are tall? Is it because this is your first practice match," Kageyama asked darkly.

Sweat began to drop down Hinata's face.

"_This… isn't going very well,"_ Sora cringed at she looked at the situation. She then looked at the opponents who were snickering and grinning as they looked at Kageyama and Hinata and the darkness that seemed to consume them. They were probably saying that he hasn't changed, but something surprising happened; something, almost… uncharacteristic of Kageyama if they didn't know any better.

"So now… Get back to normal, you jackass," Kageyama yelled pointing towards the court.

Hinata looked at the tall boy with confused look.

They then went to line-up again for next set, but before it began Tanaka began to lecture Hinata. Sora observed them silently.

"Listen to me. In volleyball, everybody on this side of the net is you ally. It doesn't matter if you're lousy. It doesn't matter if you're a nuisance," Tanaka shouted, "You can slow us down. That's okay. But to make up for those things… That's why you have your team and your senpais,"

"Oooh." Hinata beamed with excitement.

Sora chuckled and then walked towards the two idiots, finally finding the courage to approach the middle blocker.

"Hinata," Sora said.

Hinata and Tanaka stopped and turned towards her. Upon realizing that she had their full attention, she flinched.

"…. Arigato," she said blushing.

"Eh," Hinata stated as he gave her a confused look.

"For defending me earlier. I really appreciated it. This is kind of what Tanaka-senpai means. We are you allies and we will stand next you no matter what. So… rely on us. We'll be there for you no matter what," Sora exclaimed, bracing her hand against her bicep as she held her arm out in front of her.

The team just looked at her. Her face turned even redder, a bit of sweat pooling across the back of her neck.

"S-S-So let's do our best, ok," Sora turned her head.

"Hai," Hinata grinned at her. Sora looked at him at the corner of her eye and grinned. She turned her attention to Tanaka.

"Thank you as well, Tanaka-senpai." Sora murmured with a small bow.

Tanaka looked at her and placed both his hands on Sora's shoulders.

"Of course. Besides, for does bastards to talk badly about my Sora, how could I allow them to," Tanaka confidently said before he received a smacked to the head by Sawamura.

Sora laughed nervously.

* * *

The next set began with Sora up for the serve.

"Hmmm, the girl is serving this time," the boy with the turnip hairstyle said smirking.

"Don't worry. This is going to be an easy point," his friend stated.

Karasuno team looked back to see how Sora was taking the criticism, fearing that the two might have struck a chord, but what they saw was not the reaction from earlier. Her eyes—they were sharper—as if she was observing their opponents.

She bounced the ball a couple of times, threw up in the air, and leaped up off the ground, her hand coming up to perform a hard hump serve. The ball rocketed past the boys, so fast that they barely had a chance to react.

The Aoba Josai team stood still in silence, wearing varying shades of shock on their faces.

"W-What was that," one of the boys asked.

Sora smirked.

"You guys really shouldn't underestimate your opponents. I may be a girl, but I'm a force to be reckoned with," she called out from the baseline.

She served the ball again, but this time, she aimed at the boy that was with the turnip hair person earlier. He held his arms out, but the ball shot off to the side after meeting his skin, giving Karasuno a two point lead.

"That's for insulting my teammates, you bastard," Sora said coldly as she gave the boy an icy glare.

The Aoba Josai boy flinched, perturbed that small little girl like Sora would have words that dark and sharp in nature under her sleeve.

"Hehe, they shouldn't have insulted her," Tanaka hummed through his cupped hands.

"Oi, Kageyama, Hinata," Sora shouted.

The two boys looked at her.

"Let's take these bastards down." Sora said smirking.

"Ah," The two shouted.

…

The second set was finally going their way. They were up 24 to 22 in the second set. Hinata had finally calmed down so they were able to use their "oddball quick" attack. Kageyama even gave her a couple of tosses, which allowed her to show of her skills. She either aimed at the corner of the courts or at her opponent. Sora looked over to the Aoba Josai boys and was smirking.

"Looks like they're nervous now," Sora stated, not ashamed to be visibly smug.

"Of course they are. They aren't able to stop your serves, spikes, and the quick attack," Tanaka boasted heartily.

"It feels good."

Tanaka somewhat subdued his laughter to look at Sora.

"To be part of team again. Volleyball is starting to be fun again," Sora said and she smiled at Hinata who was babbling happily to Kageyama.

"What do you mean 'again,'" Tanaka asked.

The whistle blew indicating for the match resume.

"It's nothing," Sora waved off and took her position once again.

Karasuno took the final point, signaling the end of the second set in their favor, leaving but one more set the break the tie with Aoba. Overall, the team seemed in high spirits, praising one another for a job well done thanks to the turnaround of their attitudes.

"On to winning the final set," Tanaka hollered as he smack Hinata's back, causing the small boy to choke.

Sora laughed and then walked over to Kageyama.

"Nice toss out there."

"Ah," he returned.

"I want to know something."

Kageyama looked at her, quirking an eyebrow to what she would possibly want to inquire from him.

"Where is the main setter," she asked.

Kageyama's eye widened: she must have deduced that setter on the court was in fact not their Regular setter. He was about so speak before…

"KYAAAH!"

Everyone tuned around and a saw a boy with windswept dark walnut hair and brown eyes strolling over towards the Aoba Josai coach. He had a placid smile on his face, smug and self-indulgent in nature, a true, 'pretty boy,' type if she ever saw one—which explained the screams from the girls in the gym. He was around 184 cm in height, with a respectful build compared to those around him. He was wearing the Aoba Josai uniform, white sweats with a hint of aqua in them.

"_Who's he?"_ Sora thought to herself.

"Oikawa, you're back." The coach said surprised to see the tall boy. "How's the ankle?"

"It's fine. I can get back to regular practice. It was just a slight sprain," Oikawa said grinning.

The screams of the girl's rang through the gym. Oikawa waved happily back at them, causing them to scream even louder.

"Kageyama-kun, who's that laid-back guy? I find him unpleasant," Tanaka asked with a strained—if not intimidating—smile on his face.

"He's the captain of Seijoh," Sawamura explained.

"Eh," Hinata and Tanaka said in unison.

"Oikawa-san is a supper-aggressive setter. His attack power is also at the top of his team," Kageyama clarified.

"He must be good if Kageyama acknowledges his abilities," Sora noted.

Hinata nodded in agreement.

"And he's got a terrible personality."

"Coming from you, that's scary," Hinata chirped instinctively.

"Maybe even worse than Tsukishima," Kageyama stated.

"That's pretty bad," Sora said.

They all looked back at the aforementioned middle blocker and then returned their attention towards Kageyama.

"Do you know him from Kitagawa Daiichi," Tanaka asked.

"Hai. He was my senpai in junior high."

Oikawa turned around and started to wave at Kageyama.

"Yoo-hoo! Long time no see, Tobio-chan. So nice to see you. You still doing the King thing," Oikawa hummed giving them all a plastic smile.

"I learned serving and blocking by watching him play. His skills are extremely high." Kageyama indicated, somewhat grumbling.

Her interest peak, Sora turned to observe Oikawa. His presence was sort of how Kageyama was when they first met, but it was much stronger. Suddenly their eyes made contact with one another. He gave Sora a smile, which she quick turned her head, ignoring the fact that despite the distance that separated them, the idly espresso color of his eyes was more than vivid when starting back at her.

Their coach told him to go warm-up, which he obeyed by taking off in a light jog.

But as he passed by the Karasuno team, he glanced back at Kageyama, wearing a small smirk on his face.

* * *

The match resumed with Karasuno leading 24 to 20 in the third set. They were only one point away from beating Seijoh. But that didn't stop the team from giving-up, the boy with the turnip hair spike the ball towards Tsukishima. Unfortunately for Tsukishima, his long arms could not withstand the attack, causing to ball to fly off his skin towards the side.

The referee blew the whistle indicating that there was a player being switched, the player in question being Oikawa. He looked at Sora as he made his way onto the court and offered her a small grin.

Sora looked at him back and gave him a glare, until Sawamura came up behind her and started to scowl her. Sora flinched, shaking off the expression to remain on her best behavior, taking her position as Oikawa stepped up to serve.

"No matter how strong your offense is…It means nothing if you can't connect to it," he hummed.

"_What,"_ Sora mentally said.

Oikawa sprung into the air, his body arching as he physically threw himself into his jump serve, putting a hard topspin on it as he directed towards Tsukishima. Tsukishima held his arms out in front of him, but the spin and power imparted by Oikawa made him unable to return it back to the setter—causing the ball to shoot off his arm towards the balcony in the gym.

Everyone eyes widened.

"Just as I thought. I watched part of the match… You, number 6, and you, number 5. You're not good receivers, are you? You must be first-years," he chirped.

He did the same serve and aimed it at Tsukishima again earning the same result as before. Sora looked back at Tsukishima and didn't look too happy about being unable to return the shot. Due to Oikawa's prodigious serves, the score had risen 23 to 24, effectively breaking Karasuno's comfortable lead.

"Oh. One more point and we're tied," Oikawa stated.

"Hey. You, Great King. Aim at me. I'll receive it. Aim here," Hinata shouted, jumping up and down with his arms waving.

"Stop raising a fuss. It's embarrassing," Tsukishima quipped.

"What was that," Hinata yelled.

"All right. All of you scoot to the back. Tsukishima, you go closer to the sideline. Sora, move in closer to the middle with me," Sawamura ordered.

Sora nodded and moved to the middle of the court. Oikawa served the ball again and aimed it at Sora. She smirked and received it towards the other side of the net.

"_Crap. I didn't mean to do that,"_ Sora mentally cursed.

The turnip hair boy spiked it, but the ball hit the tip off of the boy's fingers, letting Karasuno to have a chance ball. Kageyama tossed it towards Hinata and he spiked it passed Oikawa in a flurry of wind and blurred leather. The match ended with Karasuno as the winners.

After lining up, they went over the Takeda-sensei, straightening themselves into a line.

"Please coach us," the team shouted in unison as the bowed.

He got up, but from the looks of things, he didn't know what to say, until Sugawara whispered something to him. He took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Etto… I'm just a beginner when it comes to volleyball, but… But even I can tell that something amazing is going on here. We have some amazing first-years this semester. They were hard to handle in the beginning, but I learned something today."

It was inspiring speech. Sora could remember what her father would always tell her.

"_You can make a difference by rising as far as you want. By believing in yourself and others, the odds are endless."_

"All of you will most likely become stronger. Much stronger," Takeda expressed enthusiastically.

The whole team looked at him in silence.

"Sorry! That was a little too poetic! Are you turned off," he asked embarrassed.

"No, no, no, of course not," Sawamura reassured.

"Thank you," everyone said.

* * *

After the match had ended, and the teams exchanged their thanks, the members of Karasuno rallied up: gathering their supplies, zipping up their bags before heading out towards the buses. The words of Takeda lingered on them a little longer than the simple probably thought: there was a certain air of pride all around, a certain amount of euphoria at their successful performance against Seijoh.

Sawamura put on his best, 'Captain's' voice and brought them all back down to the reality of the situation.

"Frankly, if we were facing Seijho and Oikawa in an all-out match, we'd be lacking."

The upperclassmen seemed to understand, shrugging in agreement. Hinata perked his ears at his captain's statement, a little disheartened considering he was still running on the high the very last spike felt against his hand, but still very aware that taking a serve to the face was not a valid receiving technique. He hung his head slightly, then snapped right back up when a melodious, humming voice broke their silence.

"Oooh, spoken like a true captain," he began with his nose lightly lifted in the air, before turning towards the group as they stopped dead in their tracks.

"You really know your stuff."

Tanaka stepped forwards with his hands on his hips, full on ready to charge Oikawa without a second thought.

"The Grand King had made his entrance," Hinata cried with his hands held up—in what assumedly was—a fighting manner, balancing back on one leg before he crouched behind Tanaka.

"You got a problem, man," Tanaka growled, emphasizing the shadows under his eyes and across the bridge of his nose as he stalked forwards.

"What do you want," Hinata added, trying—and horrendously failing—to look intimidating as he stood clinging to Tanaka's back, on flips and flicks of his hair visible for Oikawa to see.

"You wanna fight, huh," Tanaka sneered, Hinata doing the same before ducking behind his jersey.

"Don't be so hostile," Oikawa teased, wafting his hand lightly. He stepped off of the side of the wall, turning fully towards the group, angling himself towards Hinata still hiding behind Tanaka; though as he readied himself to eloquently pick apart the first years, his eyes met Sora's—airy espresso to aggressive violet—he could not help but quirk a grin in amusement.

"Ooh, and who is this," he hummed—if not purred—to Sora. He glanced at the only two women among the murder of crows: one obviously being their manager, considering she was carrying notepads and stopwatches on her person, but the other one…

She was not a manager, or even a manager's assistant: her hair was slightly damp with sweat, and he knew without a doubt that he had seen her on the court with the other first years. By what was she doing on the court with them. Was she a player, then?

No… how laughable: a young girl playing on the boys' volleyball team. It was impossible. Even if she did play, perhaps it was because their backup players were even less talented than she was, or perhaps they kept her on the court for another reason.

Oikawa grinned, his head slightly cocked and scanned over her full, youthful face, scowling mouth, petite—and tightly wound—body clad in the classic Karasuno uniform.

"Are you the mascot, chibi-chan?"

Silence swept over her, and perhaps if it had been any quieter, they might have heard her fists curling, or her heart beginning to pump heatedly with anger, or the dangerous sounds of her back teeth cracking. Taking a deep breath in, Sora took her time exhaling as she cocked her head to the side, a look beyond furious coloring her eyes, an almost cynical smile stitching itself on her face.

"No, I'm a regular," she returned sweetly, which sent shivers down her teammate's spines.

Oikawa started to laugh.

"I can't believe that. What a funny first year you guys have."

"Etto, she's actually serious," Sawamura assured.

"Huh?"

"She plays for the team, Oikawa-senpai." Kageyama stated.

"Are you serious," he asked, his placid smile drooping slightly with bemusement.

They all nodded their heads.

"Sora-chan is from America," Sugawara clarified.

"I was asked by the principal to play on the boys' volleyball team due to my skills."

"Hmmm, you must be pretty good," Oikawa stated in a somewhat patronizing manner.

"I am not the only one who is good."

"I'm impressed, but you know many people will think less of you since you're a girl," Oikawa stated, tilting his head back slightly.

Sora looked at him and only sighed.

"Even so, I will fight till the end. I don't care if they look down on me and I don't care if they criticize me. With this team, I will stand with them and show everyone my skills," Sora declared.

Everyone stared as Sora finished her speech; her shoulders still held high even after her voice had faded. Oikawa smiled and gave Sora a lightly pat on the head.

"That's very ambitious of you, chibi-chan. Do your best," he chirped, using a tone that sounded more supercilious than it did encouraging.

Sora's right eye began to twitch.

"Please remove your hand from my head," she spat coldly.

Oikawa only grinned at her.

"Gomen, but you're really cute," he hummed with a perked smile.

"You must say that to a lot of girls, huh," Sora snipped.

Oikawa grinned.

"Please stop messing with Sora-san, senpai," Kageyama politely, albeit there was a small droplet of irritation in his voice.

"Oh. Does she have some importance to you, Tobio-chan," Oikawa asked bringing his palm up to his lips in a coy gesture, smirking at Kageyama behind his fingers.

"Sora-san is an important partner. She's awesome server and she is amazing spiker. With us three together, we will beat you guys in the official match," Hinata yelled, stepping up to Oikawa with his chest jutted up

Oikawa smirked at them.

"Jaa, the Inter-High preliminaries are coming up soon. Don't get eliminated, okay," he said.

"Because I…" his smile shifted into something dark, something calculating,

"I want to pulverize my dear underclassman, setter-on-setter, in an official match," he finished, pointing towards Kageyama.

"Just have your team ready. You really didn't get to see me play that much, but I haven't even shown any of my trump cards yet," Sora stated confidently with her arms crossed.

The Aoba Josai Captain looked at Sora and then began to walk away, but turned around and offered her one last statement.

"Take care of my cute Kohai for me, chibi-chan," Oikawa chirped before leaving.

"He's… really strange," Sora grimaced.

"Demo, Sora-san was so cool," Hinata said enthusiastically.

"Really? I guess so," Sora said as she scratched the side of her cheek.

Kageyama then came up behind the small boy and smacked the back of his head.

"Itai, what was that for," Hinata groaned angrily, rubbing what was sure to be a bruise or swollen patch underneath his orange mop.

But, Kageyama didn't say a word. His face was oddly tight, as if he were unable to tame the scowl tugging his mouth, or ignore Hinata's accustomed chirps and titters.

"_Why do I feel irritated?"_ he thought, furrowing his brow.

He then turned his attention towards Sawamura—trying to shake off the foreign tension in his body and face—ignoring Hinata's shouting in the background.

"Don't let him get to you. He likes to razz people like that," Kageyama reassured.

Sawamura only grinned.

"It's true. We don't have much time before the Inter-High preliminaries, but he should be coming back soon."

"He," Sora questioned.

"Who's coming back soon," Hinata asked.

Sawamura offered his teammates each a small grin.

"The Guardian Deity of Karasuno."

* * *

That evening, Sora had left early, so she didn't stay too long to help clean up. When she arrived at the orphanage, she walked in and saw some familiar shoes at the door. She went upstairs to Ryuu's office and opened the door. In the room was Ryuu sitting at his desk and a woman who looked like she was in her twenties sitting next to him with a teacup in her hand.

She had shiny black hair that was in a long braid that was shoulder length, fair skin, dark brown eyes, thin lips, and slender body. She was wearing a long sleeve button up long sleeve shirt, a light blue pencil skirt, and black high heel shoes.

"Sora-chan," the woman excitedly said.

"Auntie! Welcome back," Sora shouted. She ran over and gave her aunt a hug.

"How are you, my dear," Sora's aunt asked.

"I'm fine. How was your trip?"

"It was good. A lot of stuff has happened since you've been gone."

Sora's aunt chuckled.

"Don't worry. Ryuu-chan kept me informed about everything that happened. I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

Sora looked at her aunt with a confused look.

"Sure," she said.

"Saa, I will take my leave for today, Manami-sensei," Ryuu said as he got up from his seat.

"Un, see you tomorrow," she said smiling.

"I will see you tomorrow as well, Sora," Ryuu spoke.

"Un, be safe going home," Sora said as she waved good-bye.

Ryuu then closed the door behind him and left. Sora looked at her aunt who was smiling sweetly at her for some reason.

"W-What is it?" Sora asked uncomfortable with the smile her aunt was giving her.

"Nothing dear. I am just happy to see you. Please, have a seat," Manami-sensei offered.

Sora sat down in the chair that Ryuu was sitting in.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"I just wanted to hear how school was going."

"It's good. The material is pretty easy since I already learned it. Home economics is…. Ok." Sora mumbled, which cause Manami-sensei to chuckle.

"I see. Have you made any friends?"

"Yeah, three of them who are outside of volleyball," Sora explained.

"Speaking of that. I heard that you are playing for Karasuno's boys' volleyball team. Omedeto!"

"Arigato. There were some problems at first, but everything has been cleared up. We even won our first practice match today," Sora explained.

"Ahh, I'm so happy for you. Ever since the accident, I thought you would never play volleyball again," Manami-sensei smiled sadly.

Sora did the same.

"Yeah… But that team is really something. They're a bit odd, but something about them draws you to them."

Manami-sensei looked at Sora and smiled gently at her.

"That is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Sora looked at her aunt with a confused look.

"Ryuu has told me that you haven't told any of your friends or your coach that you lived here."

Sora looked down at her feet and frowned.

"I will... it's just that…"

"Say no more. Ryuu informed that you are not ready to tell them. But once you tell them, I would love for you to bring them over, ok."

Sora looked at her aunt and sighed.

"Fine, but if they cause trouble, I'm not responsible," Sora stated with her hands raised.

Manami-sensei chuckled.

* * *

The next day. Sora was happily chatting with Chou who was more than excited to hear about the match yesterday. The teacher had let class end early today and Sora wanted to spend time with Chou since she had been pretty busy with volleyball practice. Even today, she was going to spend her lunch period with Kageyama and Hinata to practice.

"I'm so happy that guys won yesterday, Sora-san," Chou said happily.

Sora chuckled.

"Arigato, but that Oikawa-san is a really weird. He thought I was the mascot for some reason. I don't even look like one!" Sora shouted.

Sweat dropped down Chou's head as she looked her angry female friend.

"Thinking about clubs, didn't you join Cooking club," Sora asked.

"Hai. I thought it would be fun and the senpai are really nice to. They even compliment me on the Sukiyaki that we made yesterday." Chou grinned.

"I'm really jealous of you. I wish I could cook dishes like that. But every time I tried, I'd ether burn it or put the wrong ingredients in the bowl," Sora laughed wearily.

"Sora-san, you're a great when it comes to athletics and academics, but cooking is not your strong point," Chou said.

A vein popped onto Sora's head and started to pull at the small girls cheeks, causing her wail in pain.

The bell rang, which meant it was time for lunch.

Sora let go of Chou's cheeks and grabbed her duffle bag.

"Practice with Hinata-san and Kageyama-san," Chou asked.

"Ah, Hinata wanted to work on his receives as soon as possible, so I'm going to help." Sora clarified.

"Sokka, see you in a bit. We have home economics' after lunch," Chou stated.

"Un, I'll see you later." Sora said somewhat gloomy as she walked out the classroom.

She then made her way to the changing room and put on a pair of dark blue shorts and a white short sleeve sports shirt. Sora then made her way into the gym, but when she opened the door, Kageyama and Hinata were in a heated arguement.

"_Could these two go without ten minutes without yelling at one another?!"_

"Oi, what are you two going on about now," she barked.

Both boys' turned their attention towards her.

"I want to try to receive his serve back," Hinata stated.

"Hinata, no offense, but you are too far from even beginning to recieve Kageyama's serves right now," Sora quipped.

Hinata pouted.

"Come on, I'll help you," Sora huffed, rolling her eyes.

"Hontoni?"

"Isn't that why I'm here?"

Unbeknownst to them, Kageyama was watching them happily talking to each other. For some reason, he's been feeling really irritated when Hinata spoke with Sora. He was bright as it was, but in her presence he nearly glowed like a human torch. In return, it would only drag an even wider grin from Sora, an even more animated expression, as if she were feeding off his energy.

He shrugged it off, finding that dwelling on it would only delay practice.

He jumped and aimed the ball towards the bottle on the other site of the court. The ball was making for a direct hit,

That is, until someone from out of nowhere received it, like a being spurting forth from the shadows.

The three first years' eyes widened.

"_He perfectly stopped the momentum and rotation, and accurately sent the ball back to the setter. That was a perfect receive,"_ Sora thought.

The boy had a fairly muscular build, black wild hair that stood up and pieces of hair that wear bleached over his forehead, brown slanted eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt with, 'One Man Army,' painted across the back and black pants. He had his black jacket hanging across his shoulder.

"_He looked like he knew what he was doing. Could he be…"_

Hinata walked over to the boy and looked at him up and down.

"Y-You're… shorter than me," he shouted.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

_This is when certain feelings started to mature and a new teammate appeared._

* * *

Yeah! Chou-chan made a small debut into the story. Sora's friends play a big role in the story, but it not going to be till some later chapters. Also, Manami-sensei made her debut. You all are probably wondering who she is, but I'm not telling you guys. You will have to keep reading to find out.

Anyway, Please review!


	7. Chapter 7: Libero, Ace and Angel?

Yo guys! Sorry for the long wait. I am packing for college because I leave in two weeks. I'm excited to go back! But don't worry. I won't stop right this story because it seems that a lot of people like and want me to continue, so I'm going to be updating as fast as I can.

Also, I am debating on who Sora is going to fall in love with, but I am having a hard time deciding. I would love to hear from you guys who she should fall for so please leave a review or pm me your reason why she should fall for Kageyama or Hinata. I will try to make my decision based on that.

Ok with that said, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 7: Libero, Ace, and…Angel?

Sora sighed. Hinata could have said anything, anything _at all_, something better than, "You're shorter than me." Even though it was honestly true, he still shouldn't have pointed it out so openly.

"Um… how tall are you," Hinata asked the smaller boy.

"I'm 159 centimeters," he answered confidently.

Hinata was still frozen in shock.

"W-What," the boy asked with a confused look.

"It's the first time I've looked down at someone since I started high school club activities," Hinata cried, weeping in joy into his arm.

"Don't weep with joy about it! You're not looking that far down," the boy shouted.

Sora walked towards Hinata and smacked him in the back of the head causing the middle blocker to cry out in pain.

"Stop insulting people about their height when you're just as short," Sora scolded, being handed back a small pout from Hinata.

"Sorry about him. Sometimes he… Are you ok," Sora asked in a concerned manner as she looked at the smaller boy, bemused to why he looked so nervous in her presence.

"Hey! Noya-san," a voice suddenly called, snapping him from his stupor.

It was Tanaka with Sawamura and Sugawara right behind him, walking onto the court towards their beloved libero.

"Hey, Ryu!"

"Nishinoya," both Sawamura and Sugawara said, a little bit relieved by his presence.

"Hi," he called back enthusiastically.

"Let me introduce you," Sawamura started, turning towards the first years. "This is Nishinoya, second-year."

"Hi," Sora, Hinata, and Kageyama said in unison with their chests held high.

"Hi. You guys are first-years, huh? You, the guy doing serves," Nishinoya acknowledged, pointing towards Kageyama, "The tall guy with the nasty glare. What junior high are you from?"

"Kitagawa Daiichi," Kageyama answered.

"Seriously? That's a power school. No wonder you serve like that. We played against you guys and lost 2 to 1. Your serve was amazing then, too!"

"Noisy as ever," Sawamura and Sugawara sighed in unison, a bit rattled by Nishinoya's voice bouncing left and right off of the gym walls.

"What junior high were you at, Nishinoya-san," Kageyama questioned.

"Chidoriyama."

Kageyama's eyes widened.

"That's a power school. Why did you come to Karasuno?"

"I came to Karasuno because…"

Nishinoya lowered his head, his eyes dropping closed before he opened them, curling his fist with a fervid inner fire.

"Because I like the girl's uniform. Intensely."

The three freshmen looked at him blank-faced if not entirely expressionless.

"And the girls have lived up to my expectations. And above all… because of the boy's uniform. In black. I wore a blazer in junior high, so I admire this uniform. It's not brown or grey, but black," he exclaimed excitedly.

Sora, Kageyama, and Hinata looked at one another before returning their attention to the libero—who oddly was far beyond any of their imaginations, with a personality somewhat peculiar for someone with the title of, 'Guardian Deity.'

A loud screeching sound resonated throughout the gym from the back entrance, Nishinoya turning to find Shimizu coming into the gym.

"Kiyoko-san! I've come to see you," he happily yelled as he ran towards the female manager. Kiyoko understandably flinched at the sudden call of her name, as well as seeing a little 159-centimeter libero descending upon her like an asteroid hurtling towards the earth.

'_SMACK_!'

With Kiyoko scuttling away quickly, Nishinoya rejoined the group with a larger-than-life grin on his face, accented by a bright red handprint on his cheek.

"He's like a hurricane, as usual," Sugawara hummed.

Sawamura laughed.

"Quite the noisemaker, isn't he?"

"Hai, he reminds me of one my teammates back home… I think I'm getting a headache," Sora muttered as she placed her hand on her temples.

"Yet when he plays, he's surprisingly…quiet," Sawamura mused.

Nishinoya then came walking back and looked at Sora. She looked back at him and tried to give him a smile, but it caused him freeze up and stiffly walk over to Tanaka, and hide slightly behind him, holding his hand up to cover his mouth as he spoke.

"Ryu, who is she? Is she helping Kiyoko-san," he whispered.

"This is Mizuki Sora. She's the one that the principal recommended to play for us," Tanaka explained. Nishinoya perked up and walked towards her.

"Seriously? I saw that video. You were amazing! I've never seen anyone jump or serve like that before. Plus you're really cute, just like Kiyoko-san," he chirped excitedly.

"A-Arigato," Sora smiled nervously.

"Anyway, where's Asahi-san? Did he come back?"

"… No," Sawamura finally stated, his head slightly bowing down.

Nishinoya gritted his teeth.

That wimp!"

"Hey, Noya! Don't talk like that about your senpai," Tanaka lectured.

"Shut up! A wimp is a wimp. If Asahi-san's not coming back, neither am I," Nishinoya yelled and walked out the gym.

* * *

Since the afternoon practice was interrupted, Sora decided to go back to class. As she walking, she kept thinking about what Nishinoya said about the guy known as Asahi. Whoever he was, the small boy was pretty angry with him. Sora then remembered that she had home economic next and she did not want to go. As she walked upstairs, some boys were running down the stairs and one of them bumped into her, causing her to lose her balance.

"_Crap, I'm going to fall!"_

She thought that her face was going to hit the ground, but suddenly someone's hand grabbed her wrist, which kept her balance. It was a solid grip, one that was not too rough or too lax, just tight enough to ensure the he'd keep her upright without jerking her arm out of socket.

"Are you alright," the voice asked worriedly.

Sora looked up and saw a boy who looked like a he was a third year. He had brown hair that was worn in the bun, a small goatee and brown eyes. He was around 184.7 cm. He looked like he could have been older, but he was wearing the school uniform, so assumedly he was of high school age. Seeing someone of his image was quite peculiar for Sora—especially considering this wild-looking assumed-third year was the one who saved her, the one who had a grip that was not too tight and not too loose.

"A-Ah, I'm fine," she stammered.

"Are you sure? You're not injured?"

Sora chuckled.

"No, I'm fine thanks for saving me," Sora assured.

"Ah, there's no need to thank me. Here's your bag," he said handing Sora her duffle bag.

"Arigato, Etto…"

"Oh sorry, I'm Azumane Asahi."

"_Asahi?"_ Sora thought. She was about to speak, when the warning bell rang.

"Oh, I have to go." Asahi said and then walked away. Sora watched the older boy walk away. She then walked to her own classroom to prepare for the last class.

* * *

That evening, Nishinoya came to help the team with receives. From what Hinata told her, he said he was not joining the club, but he was at least going to help them train. However, it seemed that the only language that his receives filtered through was pure, unintelligible gibberish.

"So, essentially… You go zip, then go whoop, and pow. Like that."

Hinata, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi tilted their heads in confusion.

"It's no good. He can't explain it because he moves purely on instinct," Tanaka exclaimed.

"Really? I sort of understood what he was saying," Kageyama shrugged.

"That's because you react on instinct too," Sora quipped.

"So-So. When you explain something, all you say is "pow" and "woah" and stuff. Nobody else understands you," Tanaka proclaimed.

As Nishinoya explained what he meant, Sora couldn't help but think about this afternoon. Was the guy that she met _the_ Asahi everyone was talking about? If he was, should she ask him about the situation.

"You were talking about "Asahi-san." Who's he," Hinata asked.

"_Idiot,"_ Sora mentally yelled.

"Baka, don't say that name carelessly," Tanaka shouted.

Nishinoya looked at him with a somewhat stony expression and spoke.

"He's Karasuno's ace, for what it's worth."

"Ace," Hinata murmured.

"What's with the empty-headed look," Nishinoya inquired.

"I… want to be the ace," Hinata said.

"Huh? Ace? What, with your height?"

Hinata looked discouraged for a minute until Nishinoya reached out with one hand grabbed his arm.

"I like you!"

Hinata stared wide-eyed at him with a confused look.

"Right? You want it because it's awesome, right? Good, good. Do it, do it. Become the ace. You'd be far more impressive than out current ace," Nishinoya quipped, laughing hysterically.

"But then again, it's the ace that inspires you."

"Yes. Aces are awesome," Hinata shouted excitedly.

"Demo, being an ace isn't all about being awesome. Is someone who fights for the team as well as guide them. He or she is willing to do anything to win for team," Sora piped in.

Nishinoya nodded his head in agreement.

"She's right. But… in a match, when the crowd is going crazy… even more than at an amazing spike, is when there's a super receive. In the battle of height that is volleyball, libero is one of the few positions in which a short players can survive," he explained.

"But I'm not a libero because of my height. I'd be a libero even if I was two meters tall. Even if your side misses the spike, even if your side can't block… as long as the ball doesn't hit the court… in volleyball, that means you haven't lost. And the one best suited to do that… is the libero."

"Kakkoii." Hinata shouted excitedly.

Nishinoya blushed.

"J-Jackass. Don't say it so sincerely! Damn it!"

Sora chuckled.

"I think Libero's are the coolest position."

Sora's words echoed in Nishinoya's head. He then walked over to Sora and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You… You're an angel! I'm going to by you as many ice creams as you want!"

Sweat dropped down everyone's head. Angel? Sure, she was nice, but was her simple statement worth Nishinoya's overzealous reaction? It was Nishinoya of all people, and he was essentially the definition of overzealous, but regardless.

"Angel," Tsukishima queried in a clipped tone, as if it were the most ludicrous proclamation ever uttered. Sugawara and Sawamura turned towards the tallest first year, seeing the quirked frown on his face, as well as the shades of bemusement coloring the other first years at the shameless display from their elder.

"Sora-chan doesn't know that her words effect people," Sugawara sighed wearily, turning his attention back to Nishinoya.

Sawamura laughed.

"Demo, her words are inspiring when you need it."

* * *

The next day, school was almost over for the day. Sora was able to survive home economics because they were making desserts, so she decided that she would make some cookies. As she was baking the cookies, she decided that she was going to give it to Asahi because he saved her yesterday.

But what she really wanted to do is ask him why he isn't playing volleyball. She asked Ennoshita what class the unseen ace was in yesterday.

As she was making her way to Asahi's class, she saw Kageyama and Hinata standing outside the classroom, in the midst of a heated argument… again.

"_Seriously. Can these two just get along for one day?"_

They finally stopped arguing, and noticed Sora standing behind them.

"Sora-san. What are you doing here," Hinata asked with a confused expression.

"I'm here to speak… Ah," Sora stopped herself in mid-sentence when she saw Asahi coming out of his classroom. He noticed the three first years standing there. Hinata flinched and hid behind Sora and Kageyama.

Huh? What are you guys doing here," a familiar voice said.

It was Sugawara.

"Oh, um…" Hinata trailed off.

"I'm here to give these cookies to Asahi-san," Sora explained.

"Eh, me?"

"Hai, I wanted to properly thank you for saving me," she said as she handed Asahi the bag of cookies.

"Ah, you didn't have to do that."

"It's fine. But that's not the only reason why I am here," Sora said, straightening up.

"Suga, could these three be…" Asahi trailed off as he glanced from the first years to Sugawara.

"Let me introduce our new members, Hinata, Sora, and Kageyama," Sugawara presented.

"So, you're the first-years."

"Yes, hello," the three greeted in unison.

"I was surprised to hear you guys have a girl on your team. You must be pretty good," he offered to Sora.

"Iie, I couldn't say that," she politely opposed.

"Do your best," Asahi said placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Eh? Aren't you going to play, too? I want to become the ace, so I want to watch an ace play in person," Hinata asked.

"Azumane. Sensei's waiting," his classmate called.

"Sorry, but I'm no ace," Asahi stated and then left.

"Is he injured or something?" Kageyama asked looking at Sugawara.

"No, it's not like that… I think… He doesn't like volleyball any more. That's the problem," Sugawara explained.

Sora's eyes widened.

"Eh? He's so tall and he's an ace! Why," Hinata inquired.

"Asahi was… the tallest in Karasuno. He had power. He rescued us when things got rough and managed difficult shots. Everyone acknowledged that he was the ace. We trusted him. But…" Sugawara answered.

"Was he defeated," Kageyama asked.

"There was a match in which all of his spikes got blocked."

"He's the type to shoulder all the blame."

* * *

Classes ended for the day and Sora was quietly changing into her workout clothes. She began to remember her teammates back home. She could identify with Asahi, both of them were always caring for others, putting everything on their shoulders. The only difference was the Asahi was running away from his problem and Sora was trying to face it alone.

During practice Nishinoya came again to help everyone with their receives.

"Rolling…Thunder!" Nishinoya shouted as he received the ball into the basket.

Tanaka burst into laughter while Sugawara just stood there.

"Nice receive," he said.

"That's just an ordinary rolling receive," Tanaka said still laughing.

"Why did he yell that out," Kageyama questioned.

"What was that?" Tsukishima snickered and Yamaguchi was trying to hide his laughter beside him.

"Kageyama. Tsukishima. Yamaguchi. I'm going to lecture you all. Crouch down. I mean, sit down. Get lower than my line of vision," Nishinoya roared.

"Teach me! Teach me the Rolling Thunder!" Hinata shouted excitedly.

"_I'm surrounded by complete idiots,"_ Sora thought as she rubbed her head. She felt a headache coming on and she really wanted them to shut up for once.

"Good job, everyone. I want you all to listen up," Takeda-sensei shouted excitedly.

Everyone gathered to hear Takeda-sensei's announcement.

"We're doing it again this year, aren't we? Golden Week training camp," Takeda-sensei exclaimed.

"Golden Week? What's that?" Sora asked bluntly.

"Golden Week is a series of four holidays closely spaced together and observed at the end of April and beginning of May in Japan," Sugawara explained.

"Also, on the last day of Golden Week… I've arranged a practice match," Takeda-sensei said eagerly.

"Awesome! Very impressive, Take-chan," Tanaka said impressed with the advisor.

"Who's our opponent," Sugawara asked.

"A venerated school in Tokyo, Nekoma High school. They call themselves… Neko," Takeda answered.

"Neko," Hinata questioned.

"We've heard a lot about them. Our formal coach and theirs were rivals. We played each other a lot," Tanaka explained.

"So-So. Those famous matches were called "Cat vs Raven: Battle at the Garbage Dump," Sugawara stated.

"You sure those matches were famous," Tsukishima muttered.

"Demo, they've refused us for a while. Why now," Daichi asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell you the details later. But after I heard about that rival school, I had to arrange for a rematch of destiny," Takeda said.

Sora looked at the group and saw how excited they, but then she looked at Nishinoya. She knew by just looking at him talking to Sawamura that he wasn't going to participate in the match.

"Sora-san."

She regained her attention and looked at the voice who called her. It was Yamaguchi who had a worriedly look on his face.

"W-What is it?"

"Are you ok," He asked.

"A-Ah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?"

"Etto, you look kind of red."

Sora looked him with a confused look.

"I'm fine. Don't worry ok." She said smiling at the tall boy, causing him to blush.

"I-Iie," Yamaguchi stuttered.

Practice ended for the day. Sora sat between Kageyama and Hinata who were drinking—if not choking—down their water.

"I wonder if things would go smoother for Sugawara-san and Nishinoya-san if Asahi-san came back," Hinata mused.

"Who knows?" Kageyama replied.

"I heard Asahi-san take all the blame upon himself, but don't you think Sugawara-san is like that, too?"

"I guess that both have a sense of responsibility," Sora said.

"Even though you don't win a game by yourself," Kageyama added.

"You should talk!" Hinata and Sora yelled in unison, making Kageyama flinch.

"I clearly remember your words…'I wish I could receive, toss, and spike, all by myself.'" Hinata grumbled, copying what Kageyama said when tell all first met each other.

Sora began to snicker.

Kageyama grabbed Hinata by is shirt collar.

"Shut up," Kageyama shouted, embarrassed that small boy was imitating him very well.

"I wish I could…" Hinata repeated.

Kageyama yelled and toss Hinata into the air, but the small boy landed perfectly on his feet.

Sora busted into laughter.

"Everyone on our side of the net should be an ally," Hinata stated with a serious expression.

"Huh?"

"I don't like it when we don't get along."

Sora looked at the small boy and grinned. She walked over him and place hand on the small boy's shoulder.

"Don't worry, people come together. Just give it time."

Hinata nodded.

* * *

"_I seriously think these two don't have a brain."_

While Sora was enjoying her lunch with her friends, Hinata literally came to her classroom and asked her to go help him and Kageyama to persuade Asahi-san to come back to the volleyball club. She refused, but Kageyama grabbed her by the back of her jacket and dragged her to Asahi's classroom.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but… Why are you interested in me? We haven't even practiced together," Asahi stated.

"Because if you don't come back, the second and third-years will stay disheartened," Hinata shouted.

A vein popped on to Sora head. She jabbed Hinata in the side.

"You're being way too loud," Sora spoke irritably.

Asahi laughed.

"You guys are interesting. But, I'm sorry to say…I can no long visualize spiking past high blockers in front of me. I can't get the thoughts of getting shut out, of seeing myself intimidated, and self-destructing out of my head…" Asahi explained.

"You might think what I'm about to say is cocky for a first-year shrimp," Hinata began slowly.

"I won't think that. What is it," Asahi assured.

"I understand how you feel. I'm short and have no skills, so I constantly get blocked. But now… I have this guy tossing to me and Sora-san to help me get better, so I can get past any blocker," Hinata spoke determinedly, aiming a finger towards both setter and wing spiker.

"All the blockers vanish from sight… And the view of the other side of the net opens up."

Sora couldn't help smiling at the boy. His words were inspiring, making all those doubting thoughts go away slowly but surely.

"I envy you, Asahi-san. I don't have the height or power to spike through blockers on my own, but you do. Maybe they've blocked lots of your spikes, but you've spiked lots of points, too, haven't you? That's why everyone calls you the ace."

Asahi's eye widened. Hinata kept looking at the upperclassmen intensely.

"_This guy…" _

The warning bell rang, indicating that it was time to go back to class.

"It's time. Let's go," Kageyama pressed.

"Moron, we'll be late for class," Kageyama said, slapping Hinata in the back of the head when he wouldn't budge. The three freshman began to walk away, but Sora stopped herself and look at Asahi.

"Asahi-san… you can't endure things alone," she said firmly. She then walked away.

After classes end, Sora rushed to the locker room to get change. Once she was done she walked out towards the gym, finding Asahi peeking in through the crack in the door.

"They're amazing, aren't they?"

Asahi flinched and turned around to see Sora standing beside him.

"W-Where did you come from," He asked, alarmed to see the small girl standing beside him.

"Do you really think quitting volleyball was a good decision," Sora asked sternly.

He didn't say anything. Sora sighed.

"I understand how you feel as well. Always caring the burden of others, always caring the blame of the team when you lose. But sometimes, the burden can cause you to lose what you truly love to do." Sora then looked into the gym and watched Kageyama toss the ball to Hinata, who then spiked it.

"If it wasn't for those two, I probably wouldn't be playing volleyball," she whispered to herself.

Asahi looked at her, but didn't say a word.

"Asahi-san, if you give up, you'll be the only one at fault."

Sora then walked into the gym and left the stunned upperclassman behind.

_This is when the Libero, Ace, and Angel met._

* * *

I hope you guys like this chapter. Please leave a review on who Sora falls for. Either Kageyama or Hinata. Review please!


	8. Chapter 8: Truth

Ok guys! I'm going to be starting college in one week, so I will not be writing as much. I will not be stopping the story, but I won't be posting every two weeks. What I'm going to try to do is post every three weeks. I hope to you all will continue to follow this story.

With that said! On to Chpater 8!

* * *

Chapter 8: Truth

At home, Sora was lying on her bed, thinking about the oncoming match. She was excited, but at the same time was discouraged. Asahi and Nishinoya haven't come back to the club yet and she was still debating if she should tell the team about the reason why she had come Japan, as well as her current living situation. She turned her head over to her desk and looked at her jewelry rack.

Hanging from it was two pair of golden wing earrings and a wing necklace. Sora got up from her bed, walked over to her desk, and picked up the necklace. She was about to reach for the earrings when there was a knock at the door.

The door opened and it was Nori.

"Sora-nee-chan, dinner is ready," The young girl said happily.

"Ah, thanks Nori-chan," Sora retured.

"What are you doing," the small girl asked as she walked over to Sora.

Sora looked back at her necklace and at Nori, taking in the confused look on her face. She patted the younger girl on the head and gave her a quick smile.

"It's nothing."

"Well, dinner is ready, so let's go," Nori chirped, pulling the teen towards the door.

"Hai, Hai," She said as she followed the young girl to the kitchen.

* * *

That morning, there was no morning practice; therefore Sora was in charge of getting the young kids to school, which to her luck was on the same route she took to Karasuno. When she dropped the kids off, she continued on towards her own school, though as she made her way, she saw a familiar person.

"Sugawara-senpai," She shouted.

The older teen turned around.

"Sora-chan, Ohayoo," He greeted with a smile.

"Ohayoo."

"You're early today."

"I could say the same to you," she stated, grinning playfully at the setter, earning a small laugh from him.

"I'm actually here to get caught up with some studying." He explained.

"Eh, Sokka."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to… _Cough_… _Cough_."

"Sora-chan, are you alright," Sugawara asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Sora muttered.

"Are you sure? Maybe we should go to the nurse's office."

Sora quickly shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. I'll see you at practice Sugawara-senpai," Sora called before running past the upperclassman.

* * *

"_Ughhh… I feel terrible,"_ Sora mentally groaned.

During class, she fell asleep because she was so tired and in the afternoon during lunch, she couldn't even bear to eat any of lunch, much less look at it. Saki looked at Sora and then at Chou. She got up and placed her hand on Sora's forehead.

"Just as I thought."

"What?" Sora and Chou questioned.

"Sora, you have a fever," Saki stated.

"Eh? Are you ok, Sora-san! We have to take you to the nurse's office," Chou shouted worriedly.

"I'm fine," Sora said stubbornly.

"No you're not. You're not eating and Chou said that you were sleeping in class, little miss honor student," Saki listed as she smirked at an obviously upset Sora.

"I'm fine."

Saki sighed.

"At least go and get some rest before you're practice. I think your teammates would be worried about you. Especially since you have the big match coming up."

Sora looked at Saki and sighed.

"Yes, _mom_."

Chou and Saki escorted Sora to the infirmary, where she rested for a while. Though unfortunately, she was plagued with dreams about her parents; drams that seemed easygoing and lighthearted until they took a turn for the worse, morphing into nightmares when the car came colliding into her parents' car.

With a start, she woke up, looking left and right at her surroundings.

"_That's right. I was in the infirmary."_

Sora got out the bed and headed back to class. When she arrived, no one was there. She looked at the clock and class must have just ended. She went over to her desk and saw a notebook.

_Here are the notes for today, hope they help_

_ -Chou and Saki_

Sora chuckled.

"_They're such good friends..." _Sora thought. She then remembered about what her aunt said. Maybe it was time to tell her friends and teammates about her past, though with that notion, she felt compelled to sigh.

She then gathered her things and went to practice. Later during the evening when the sun had slowly gone down, Takeda-sensei stepped through the doors, glancing back behind him before ushering a man through.

"Let me introduce you. This is Ukai-kun, who will be our coach starting today."

Everyone looked at him with shocked expression.

Sora observed him: he had or presumably dyed blonde hair and was wearing a headband to keep his long hair out of his face, tanned skin, narrow eyebrows, and black eyes. He was wearing a red jumpsuit with a hint of lime green on the sides.

He glazed over everyone, until his eyes met Sora's.

"Is she the manger?"

"Iie, this is Mizuki Sora. She's from America and was requested to play for us," Takeda-sensei explained.

"Sokka…Anyway, I'm only the coach till the match against Nekoma."

"Huh? Demo this is the guy from the Foothill Store. He's really a coach," Tanaka questioned, still in shock from the news.

"He's a senpai to all of you. He's the grandson of Director Ukai," Takeda justified.

"WHAT?!"

"But that's not the name on your store," Hinata exclaimed.

"The store's named after my mother's side of the family," Ukai clarified before adding, "We got no time to waste. Let's get started. I want to see what you guys are made of. The game will start at 6:30 PM. The opponents have already been invited."

"Huh? Opponents," Sawamura mused with a confused look.

"The Karasuno neighborhood association team."

* * *

While everyone waiting for their opponents, to come, the group began to practice serves. Sora's was about to serve when her vision became blurring causing the girl to hit the ball into the net.

"Are you ok," Tanaka asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Demo, you look really pale. Do you need me to carry you to the nurse," Tanaka chirped excitedly, probably thinking that he could carry Sora like a princess.

"No thanks," she returned firmly, slowly regaining focus, as well ignoring the fact that Tanaka was holding himself and blushing.

The doors to the gym opened and four men appeared.

"Who are they," Sora whispered to Kageyama and Hinata.

"No idea." The two teens replied.

"The team Neighborhood Association is here," the group announced confidently.

Ukai-san then split everyone into two teams. Sora was on the same team as Hinata, Kageyama, Daichi, Tsukishima, and Tanaka, but the neighborhood association team had Sugawara, Nishinoya, and… Asahi-san.

The match began with Karasuno taking the first point: with Kageyama tossing the ball towards Daichi, who had spiked it pass one of the members of the neighborhood association. Though soon after, the next point was immediately taken by the Neighborhood association.

The score quickly rose 2-2, Karasuno's serve. Sora began to observe the other team, until she felt an overwhelming presence. It wasn't coming from any of the older male, so where was it coming from? She scanned through the group and it was Nishinoya, who receive the ball towards Sugawara, who then sent to Asahi.

The taller male spiked it, but was blocked by Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka. The pressure from the ball caused Kageyama to almost lose his balance.

"_No way. The pressure from that spike… was strong," _Sora mused, in shock of just happened. Karasuno thought that they had the point but out of nowhere Nishinoya save it and put it back in play, shocking everyone.

Sora grinned.

"_So this is Karasuno's Guardian,"_

"Even if the ball bounces off the wall… I'll keep it in play. So call for a toss again, ace!" Nishinoya yelled.

Sugawara prepared for the toss, he was going to pass it towards his left, until he heard a familiar voice calls his name.

"Suga! One more!" Asahi called out.

"Sugawara-senpai, give it to him. An ace… Ace will always call for the toss," Sora shouted.

Sugawara did just that, he tossed the ball towards Asahi, who spiked it pass the blockers.

Everyone grinned. Asahi was congratulated by his teammates. Sugawara and Nishinoya were both grinning at him, which made Sora smile. She was walked towards the net and three older boy's noticed her presence.

"Asahi-san," she called happily.

"Hai?"

"It's it great to spike the ball pass the blockers?" She questioned, still smiling.

Asahi's eyes widened and he looked at Sora and smiled.

"Ah, it does feel good." He answered.

* * *

The match continued. Kageyama and Hinata did another "quick" attack that shocked their opponents. Ukai-san was surprised as well and even called them freaks. Who could blame him? The toss _was_ kind of freaky, but it was effective.

It was finally Sora's serve. She tossed the ball in the air and it a powerful serve passed one of the older males.

Ukai was even more surprised.

"That girl… I've never seen someone serve like that before. Did she come from a big school or something?"

"Etto, I don't know really. Sora-chan doesn't really talk about herself. The only thing I know is that she is an amazing player from a video that was given to the us," Takeda explain.

"Video?"

"Hai, the principal recommend Sora to come play for the boys' volleyball team. But when I asked him why a girl is being recommended, he sent me away with this DVD of her playing."

Ukai looked Sora who high fived Tanaka and Daichi for a nice serve. He then observed the whole team and gave a scary smirk.

"Karasuno is pretty good right now," Ukai shouted excitedly.

Karasuno was down in the first set, 19 to 24. They were coming back quickly due to Hinata being the decoy and allowing Daichi, Sora, and Tanaka to spike freely. Even Tsukishima was doing a good job blocking.

It was now Hinata's turn to face Asahi-san. The match continued at Sugawara tossed the ball to Asahi. It touched the tip of Hinata's figures, but the powerful force of the ball caused it to go out.

The first set ended 19 to 25. Sora looked at the small boy and sighed. She walked over to the small boy, who was ignoring Kageyama's lecture.

"_He's idolizing Asahi-san,"_ Sora thought.

The match continued and it was time, one of the Neighborhood association members served, but the game stopped because Asahi spiked the ball towards Hinata and the small idiot wasn't ready, so he got hit square in the face.

Everyone ran over to him to make sure he was ok.

"Hinata," Asahi cried worriedly.

"Are you alright," Nishinoya asked.

"It's his fault, no matter how you look at it, for being an airhead," Tsukishima quipped.

Hinata lift up and began to apologize, but stopped when everyone felt a deadly presence. It was Kageyama who sending the small middle blocker death glares.

"Why were you distracted in the middle of the match," Kageyama said, or rather, _growled_.

Hinata got up and then hid behind Sora.

"Hey, why are you hiding behind me?"

"He won't lash out at me if you're here."

"He's going to do it anyway even if I standing here, Baka."

Sora stepped out of the way and let whatever was going to happen, happen.

"I know why. The ace is cool. But your number one use is as a decoy, which is humble and uncool. You're thinking you could be an ace too, if only you had height and power like Asahi-san," Kageyama voiced.

Hinata flinched.

"I wasn't thinking that! Or…maybe sort of…" he defended.

Two began to argue and Sora was getting really irritated. Does he really think his position is uncool? Just because it's not being the ace, is it unfitting to be a decoy?

"Your position… it's important."

Everyone looked at Sora.

"A decoy is an important position. Yeah sure… 'Ace' has a better ring to it. 'Ace' is the one who flashy. Everyone on this team has a role. Don't think your role is a waste," Sora shouted.

"Hey, volleyball club! It's closing time. Put everything away," a teacher called out.

Sora looked at the small boy and the disappointment in his eyes. Takeda-sensei was able to convince the teacher to allow them keep using the gym until the match ended.

The match resumed. Karasuno was down 8 to 14, but what happened was really shock between Sora and Hinata.

"Um… I'm tossing this guy next. Please block him with everything you've got," Kageyama stated as he pointed to Hinata.

"Huh," Sora yelled, causing Kageyama to flinch.

"Are you serious?"

"Hai." Kageyama said.

"Baka, what are you try to do, teach him a lesson or something?"

"Hai."

Sora gave him a confused look and then sighed.

"Right now… he can jump well, and he's fast, but he's lousy overall. He'll never be an ace, the pillar of the team… Demo, As long as we're here, Hinata's invincible," Kageyama answered determinedly.

"Sora looked at the tall boy and then grinned at him, causing him to blush.

"You're really something," she chirped.

Kageyama turned his head.

Hinata stood off to the side, not entirely connected to them, though not detached enough to be deaf to their conversation. He was somewhat insulted that he was regarded as, 'lousy,' though he was admitted regarded that way with good reason. He was lousy, but he was stronger with Kageyama and Sora. Both were frightfully powerful and intelligent to where he felt as though he would be left behind while they prospered.

Kageyama looked so determined, Sora no less fervid. And they looked at each other, so sure that with their combined efforts they'd be able to hold up a talented third wheel like him.

They made quite a pair.

He was looking at them both and was feeling somewhat grateful, but irritated at the same time.

"_W-Why am I feeling this way,"_ Hinata thought as he grabbed his jersey.

Sora then walk pass the tall setter and made her way towards Hinata.

"Asahi-san's spikes have awesome power. He can push back three blockers. I believe that you can do it," Sora proclaimed.

"Whenever I toss to you, do you ever get blocked," Kageyama asked.

They resumed and Hinata dodge the blockers and spiked pass Sugawara, shocking everyone.

"Hinata, do you still think your position is uncool," Sora asked, but judging by Hinata's expression, she already knew the answer.

"I don't." Hinata muttered

"Huh," Kageyama hollered

"I don't!"

* * *

The match ended, Karasuno losing 25 to 18. The team gathered outside to thank the Neighborhood association for coming.

"Well, if nothing else, we sure got to relive our youth," One the men said.

"'Call for the toss, ace!' That kind of stuff. Youth is great, isn't it," the man with glasses said grinning as he quoted Nishinoya.

"'As long as we're here, he's invincible!' I wish I could say that. High schoolers are awesome," the other man said as he quoted Kageyama.

It caused the two boys' to blush which Sora found very amusing.

As Sora watch the men compliment the team, her vision started to become blurry again.

"_Eh, what the…"_

Sora was about to fall when she caught herself. The team turned around and their eyes widened.

"Sora."

"Sora-san."

"Sora-chan"

"Oi, are you ok?" Sawamura asked worriedly.

Sora looked at them and smiled weakly.

"A-Ah, I just don't…" Sora trail off and fell to the ground. The team began to scatter.

A few minutes later, they placed Sora in a chair and Shimizu then began to check the female regular.

"Is she ok?" Tanaka asked worriedly.

"Ah, she just has a slight fever, but she should be fine," Shimizu announced.

They all sighed with relief.

"I'm going to go call her family, please watch her," Takeda said.

"Hai."

Takeda then left to go to the office to make the phone call.

"Baka, if you were sick, you should have said something," Tanaka barked.

"I was fine," Sora stated.

"Even so, your health is more important than a small practice match. You should have told someone." Sawamura protested.

Sora looked at him and nodded.

"Sora-san, drink this." Hinata said, handed her a water bottle.

"Arigato. I appreciate at it."

The doors to the gym opened, and Takeda came in, but his expression was as if he was in shock.

"Is something wrong," Sugawara asked.

"I-Iie. I just got off the phone with Sora's guardian. He's on his way to pick her up…"

The boys looked at him with a confused look.

"Sora-chan… When I spoke to your guardian, he said, "This is Taki Orphanage." Could that be, where you stay?" Takeda questioned.

Sora became even paler. She looked down at her feet. She could feel the team's stares. Sora didn't want to speak. She then remembered what her aunt had said.

"Hai. The Taki Orphanage is where I live… I'm an orphan." She answered.

Sora made eye contact with the team. She could see shocked expressions on their faces.

"Sokka, no wonder I recognize you," Ukai said.

"Eh, you knew," Takeda asked.

"Iie, demo, I would always see her walking pass my shop on the weekends with some kids. I assumed that they were her siblings. But then "

"Gomen. I-I swear I wasn't try to hide it from you all. Demo, I wasn't ready to tell you all. I was planning to tell you all, I…" Sora stopped talking because she felt sick again.

A few minutes later, someone opened the gym door and it was Ryuu. He walked towards the group and spoke.

"Excuse me, are you Takeda-san," he asked.

"Hai. I'm Takeda Ittetsu. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Takahiro Ryuu. Please to meet you." He said.

The two males shook hands.

"Ryuu-nii-san," Sora called weakly.

"Sora, what happened," Ryuu asked.

"I have been feeling sick all day. I went to the nurse's office to rest and thought I would feel better, but…"

"It's ok. Let's get you home so you can rest," Ryuu said rubbing Sora's head.

Ryuu began to grab Sora's things and then escorted the female regular outside the gym.

* * *

"Eh, Sora-san isn't here?" Hinata questioned.

Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi decided that they would go to Sora's classroom last night… Ok, so Hinata proclaimed that they should go find Sora yesterday, but Tsukishima protested that he wasn't going. Sawamura then ordered _all_ of the first years to go make sure Sora was ok during their lunch period tomorrow, much to Tsukishima's dismay.

"Hai. She just left to go somewhere," Chou answered.

"See. It was a waste of time," Tsukishima stated.

Kageyama and Hinata glared at him.

"Did you guys do something to make Sora upset? She wasn't her usual self today," Saki asked.

The four boy's looked at each. They assumed that the two girl's didn't know about Sora's living situation, so they didn't say anything. They decided to leave and try to talk to Sora during afternoon practice, but during afternoon practice, Sora didn't show up.

They all became very worried. Nobody knew what was going on, since she was ignoring their phone calls and she was never around when they were looking for her. Suddenly, the doors to the gym opened and it was Sora, still in her school uniform.

"Sora-san," Hinata chirped.

She only looked the group. She walked over to Takeda-sensei and whispered talk to him.

"Minna, gather for a minute," He ordered.

The grouped lined up.

"Sora-chan has something important that she wants to say."

Sora stepped forward and looked at the group. She took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'm really sorry for keeping my living arrangement's a secret. But I did it for a reason. There is a reason why I came to Japan, but it's not for the reason you all think."

"Reason?" Sugawara mused.

"Hai. But I'm not going to explain my reasons here." She then took two sheets of paper out of her bag and handed it Sawamura and Takeda-sensei.

"This is the address to the orphanage. The owner has asked for you all to come over Sunday. I will explain everything then. I will see you then." Sora pronounced. She then began to walk away when she felt someone grab her by her wrist.

She turned around to the person who had grabbed her was Hinata. She gave the small boy an icy glare. Her dark purple eyes looked menacing, but sad at the same time.

"Let go."

He did what he was told.

Sora closed the door to the gym behind her. She ladded up against the gym wall. Holding back her tears.

"_Mom… Dad…"_

_This is when Sora assured them she would tell them the truth, but knew she must come to terms with her painful past._

* * *

Poor Sora.

I wonder if she going to be strong about this.

I hope you like the chapter!


	9. Chapter 9: Sora's Past

Good Evening Everyone!

How have you guys been? I've been really busy with college and clubs, so I'm really sorry for not updating in a while. Classes are really demanding, but I couldn't stop think about this story. I made time to write and I present to you... Chapter 9!

I want to thank you guys waiting for me to update. I know you guys are wondering what happened in Sora's past, so sit back and relax and enjoy the story!

* * *

Chapter 9: Sora's Past

Sunday

Her hands were trembling. Her feet had alternated padding the floor of her room. Her body was nothing more than a ball of nerves that just couldn't be shook free. A myriad of emotions had taken control: anxiety, nervousness, the anticipation of those bemused faces staring back at her probably stained with pity or misunderstood compassion—emphasis on the _misunderstood_.

She was somewhat ashamed that she was behaving so timidly, holding herself back when she had put on such a brave front for them all, when now that she was faced with acknowledgement of her demons, of her past, all she wanted to do was run and hide and just forget about it.

But those faces she could not hide from—her parent's mangled faces, the innocently ignorant faces of her new teammates—she could not just run away and push them out.

She was gripping the material of her pants so hard she could almost feet her nails beneath the fabric.

She had to face them, she had to face everything—all of her past and burdens, all of the shadows that followed her, connected at her heels.

She had to face them.

"Sora," Ryuu almost whispered from the other side of the door. "Your teammates are here, are you ready?"

'No,' she wanted to spit back, 'Never.'

But, instead she took in a long breath, before letting it slip through her teeth, her mouth barely parted.

"Yeah," she replied softly.

"I'll be out in a minute."

Meanwhile, the Karasuno team was waiting nervously inside the living room. Traveling as a team to an orphanage was a little unnerving in itself, but the intimidation imparted by the shifty-eyed children peeping at them from around the corner only magnified their unease. As well, Takeda-sensei and Ukai-san were taken to another room outside of their supervision, while a woman sat with the rest of them at a table, quietly sipping at her tea. After a beat, she put her cup down and spoke.

"Please relax, I don't bite," Minami-sensei said smiling.

"I-Iie, we're fine, right minna," Daichi asked. The group nodded.

She chuckled.

"Well, while we are waiting for Sora to come down, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Fujioka Minami, the owner of this orphanage. Please to meet you all."

"Hai, I'm…"

"No need for introductions, Sawamura-kun. I already know your names from Sora and her descriptions of you are perfect," Minami-sensei explained.

"Descriptions," Sugawara questioned.

"Hai, the kind but strict captain Sawamura Daichi, the mother hen vice-captain, Koushi Sugawara, the adult looking ace Azumane Asahi, the easy going Chikara Ennoshita, the second shortest one the team, Hisashi Kinoshita, the second baldy of the team, Kazuhito Narita, the loud bald headed senpai, Ryuuosuke Tanaka, the smallest team member Yuu Nishinoya, the rude and sarcastic Kei Tsukishima, his follower Tadashi Yamaguchi, the hard headed setter Tobio Kageyama, the small orange hair idiot decoy, Hinata Shoyo, and the beautiful manager, Kiyoko Shimizu. "

Sawamura, Sugawara, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Asahi and Narita smiled nervously, either too patient or semi-relieved of their title. Kiyoko just sat in her seat, paying no mind for the compliment save the small patch of rose warming behind her neck. Tanaka and Nishinoya were smiling happily, despite her backhanded compliment. Tsukishima and Kageyama had sour looks on their stony faces, while Hinata and Yamaguchi settled for pouting.

Minami-sensei could only chuckle.

The doors opened and Ryuu came in.

"Minami-sensei, Sora is on her way down and the coach and teacher are waiting for you in your office." Ryuu proclaimed.

"Sokka… If you all will excuse me."

Minami-sensei got up from her seat and walked towards door, with her teacup at hand. She stopped and looked back at the team.

"Please take care of my niece."

The group looked at one another, until the door opened again, revealing Sora with a tray of strawberry shortcakes and orange juice. She was wearing a light blue hoodie, purple denim pants, and ankle white socks. Her hair was tied up into a side ponytail that fell towards her chest.

"Yo." She said.

"Sora-chan, how are you feeling," Sugawara asked.

"I feel better now. I just needed to rest."

"Sokka, I'm glad to hear," Sawamura said.

Sora then passed out the cake and juices to everyone and then sat down between Hinata and Tsukishima.

"I made this last night, so I hope you like it," she hummed.

"Hontoni? Alright! Itadakimasu!" Tanaka hollered as he took a bite of the cake. There was a small silence for a minute, until Tanaka put down her fork and placed his hands on his cheeks, smiling, his taste buds absolutely dancing in his mouth.

"Delicious!"

The other members took a piece of the cake and ate it.

"It is," Asahi hummed, mouth still full.

"Did you make this Sora-chan," Sugawara asked.

She nodded.

"You're definitely an angel! You'll make a great wife," Nishinoya proclaimed happily.

"Iie, I'm only good a cooking sweets." Sora protested, trying to hide the fact she was blushing.

She then looked at Tsukishima, who wasn't touching his cake.

"What?"

"Do you like it?" She asked.

Tsukishima took a bite of the cake and swallowed the piece.

"It's not bad for a volleyball fanatic," he said smirking.

Sora right eye began to twitch.

"Oi, Tsukishima, don't insult Sora-chan's delicious cake!" Tanaka scowled and nearly rammed his elbows into Ennoshita and Nishinoya beside him.

"So-So! Angel-chan probably slaved over a hot stove for us," Nishinoya shouted, pointing his empty plate towards the gangly middle blocker.

"She was probably all, '_I have to finish this… For them… I want them to say that they love it. Even if it takes me hours to finish this cake, I will make it for them_,' just like that!"

Sweat dropped down the team's head, the small, exasperated huff of Ennoshita and Sugawara the only reigning sound in the room. Sora tried desperately to hold back her giggles, but was failing miserably, and finally just broke out in laughter.

Most of the team uttered a sigh of relief. They were all worried that she would be gloomy and depressed, but she seemed to be back to her regular self.

"You finally smiled," Sawamura stated. The laughter seized as Sora looked at her upperclassman.

"Gomen, I must have made you all really worried."

"Of course you did; but at least you have the courage to say something, unlike this guy," Nishinoya declared as he pointed Asahi. Asahi lowered his head and scratched the nape of his neck in response.

"We've all thought it over and we understand why you didn't tell us right away," Sawamura interjected.

Sora didn't say anything. She could feel the heavy air forming around her. She wished should could hide, that someone would just come in and interrupt the conversation that was about to happen, to break the tension, or at least distract her from it. No, if she continued to let this linger on, she will never find peace with herself. She looked at her teammates and manager and saw the concern in their eyes. Sora took in a deep, slow breath.

"It's been a long year for me. When I came to Japan, volleyball was the last thing on my mind. Every time I heard the sound of the courts, I felt disgust and sadness roaring thought my veins. I hated volleyball."

There was a long silence in the room. The words that come from Sora's mouth felt like poison running down their skin, dark and sharp. Sugawara shifted quietly in his seat.

"Sora… What happened to you?"

She opened her eyes.

"It was after the final of the national tournament for the middle school division. My team was facing off against our rivals, The Waterside Academy Red-Eyed Sharks. The school was known for their delinquents and cheating methods. The school is run by one of the well-known Mafia Boss, Dark Flames," Sora explained.

"There are still Mafioso during this time," Hinata questioned with a shocked expression.

Sora nodded.

"Un, the group did a lot of underground work and what I've heard, many students parents were going bankrupt. A few days later, their kids would transfer from my school to Waterside. Demo, my team and I didn't really care. We were going to win regardless of the school. A few days before the tournament, some things happened."

"Things? Like what?" Tanaka questioned.

"Missing shoes, writing on our desk, hate letters, stupid little kid stuff like that. But they went too far with when they decided to attack one of our members. He wasn't a regular, but he was still part of our family. I was not going to let it slide and decided to confront their boss."

"What?! Sora-san, you did something as dangerous as that," Yamaguchi asked worriedly.

"Of course, there are only a few things that piss me off and one of those things is when you mess with my teammates," she exclaimed, steeling over her face.

The team collectively clenched. _"Scary."_

"So, I confronted their boss and he decided that it was alright to push his boundaries with me, so I kneed him in the groin and told him and his team that we **will **crush them during the finals and walked away. The next day, this guy's father calls my house and requested to speak to me and my father. He wanted my father to purposely lose the match so that the school could gain sponsorship. He also told us that his first son had fallen in love with me and wanted me to be his wife.

The team had to do a double take. "Nani?!"

"Sora-san, you were proposed to," Tanaka shouted.

"You refused him right. Right," Nishinoya pleaded, hands clutching his knees.

"Of course I did! Like hell I was going to marry him," Sora yelled angrily, making Tsukishima and Hinata next to her flinch by her volume alone.

"Why would he want to marry someone who's violent anyway," Tsukishima mumbled under his hand. A quick smirk darted across his face when Sora all but hit him across the arm.

"Shut up, four-eyes! Anyway, my father declined him and told him that he would never tell his players to lose on purpose and would never allow someone like his dirt of son to marry me. The boy's father threatened that bad thing to us, but my father stopped him because he knew his secret."

"Secret," Kageyama quizzed.

"Yeah, I don't know the details, but my father had did some research on the group and found out some details that could lock them up for the rest of their lives," Sora explained, "Blackmail, essentially."

"So if your father leaked that information… he could have destroyed an entire operation," Asahi asked.

Sora nodded.

"After that day, the bad stuff stopped happening, until the day of the tournament. We had just defeated Red-Eyed Sharks and won the tournament. On the way home…" Sora felt her voice hitch. No amount of preparation and strong-willed faces could keep the tears from forming around her eyes. She couldn't do it. She didn't want to tell them what happened.

"Sora-san…" a voice spoke.

She looked up and saw Hinata looking at her worriedly. Sora gave him a small smile and took a deep breath.

"On the way home, my father was driving while my mother was tell me how proud she was, when a car from the other side of the road drove into us. As I was losing consciousness, I saw the license plates of the car and saw who it belong to… The Dark Flames."

A heavy air formed around the team. Did they hear that correctly?

"When… When I gain consciousness, the doctors told me that they were only able to save me."

"Did… you contact the police," Sawamura asked.

"Hai, but they ignored it because there wasn't enough evidence to convict them. I didn't know where my father put the evidence that he had on the group because when I returned home, it was ransacked. After that, my team thought that it was best to pull out all the rest of the tournaments."

"I… lost everything. I lost my parents, I lost my hope, and I lost… my love for volleyball. Every time I pick up the ball, I thought of that day. I thought of the person who did this to my family. I couldn't bear to even play anymore. After the funeral, the boss's son came and tried to make it seem like it wasn't his family's fault. He told me if my family did what they were told, then this wouldn't have happened," Sora said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Sawamura, Sugawara, Shimizu and Asahi looked at their female teammates with sadness in their eyes, Tanaka and Nishinoya where clutching their fists with anger, Tsukishima remained expressionless, though even _he_ seemed shifted by the information. Yamaguchi face was pale as snow.

There was a sudden bang on the table. The grouped looked up and saw Hinata and Kageyama with furious looks on their faces.

"How could they do that! What right did they have to do that?! Those bastards shouldn't be playing volleyball, much less still walk on the street," Kageyama shouted angrily.

"Why would someone do that? How could they live with themselves knowing that they did that," Hinata hissed.

Sora looked at them wiping away her tears.

"I was given custody to my aunt and moved to Japan to live with her. My team back home wasn't happy with me decision, but thought that it was for the best. I left to start a new fresh in life. I thought that I wasn't going to miss volleyball, until I came here." She said smiling.

The team looked at her.

"If I didn't stumble upon the sports complex, I would have never met Kageyama and Hinata. I would have never decided to go to Karasuno. I wouldn't have met you guys. So… I'm really happy that I was given another chance to play volleyball again. I'm… starting to love volleyball again."

The team eyes widened.

"Un, I'm really happy that I got to meet you to, Sora-san," Hinata voiced. "If it wasn't for Sora-san, I wouldn't have become a regular and you've helped me improve, so… Arigato," he shouted.

Sora's eyes widened.

"Me too."

"Eh?"

"I'm really glad that I meet you to, Hinata," she said giving a gentle smile. Hinata blushed and rubbed the back of his head. Kageyama looked at Sora and then spoke.

"If it wasn't for you… I wouldn't be a regular now and wouldn't have made an attack that helped me realize that you have to work together to win. Arigato…"

Sora smiled at him, causing the tall boy to blush.

"I'm glad have met you too."

"We all are glad that you are here," Sawamura stated proudly, fatherly.

Sora looked at her upperclassman. Sawamura, Sugawara, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, and Asahi smiled, Shimizu gave her a small smile before Tanaka noticed her, Tanaka and Nishinoya gave her thumbs up and Yamaguchi smiled at her while Tsukishima just sat stoically.

Sora smiled.

"I'm glad to have met you all."

* * *

_Ryuu's office_

Ukai was had his hands in his pocket's while looking out the window. Takeda-sensei was still in shock at what he had heard. Ryuu was sitting next Minami-sensei looked down at Sora's file.

"As you can see, Sora had her reasons for not telling anyone about her living arrangements. The only person that knew was the principal," Minami-sensei explained.

"If word that Sora's whereabouts where known… She would be in danger," Takeda-sensei answered.

Minami-sensei nodded.

"Hai, since Sora's father isn't my really brother, he knew no one would go looking for her if she was left in my care."

"That way, she could live a peaceful life with no pressure." Ryuu exclaimed.

Minami-sensei looked at Ukai and Takeda-sensei and smiled.

"Ukai-san, Takeda-sensei, please take care of my niece."

Ukai and Takeda-sensei looked at the young woman, a little startled.

"There are some things that I can't help Sora with, such as volleyball. She needs people in her life to help reach her goal. When I listen to her speak about this team… It gives me hope that one day, her love for volleyball will return. So please…"

Ukai sighed.

"Well, she's one of our best players. She's even proven that she can handle herself against males, so she will be fine." Ukai stated.

"Un, Sora-chan has much potential and I feel she will be our ultimate weapon when the time comes." Takeda-sensei assured with a smile.

Minami-sensei smiled gentle and bowed. Ryuu smiled as well.

"On that note, why don't you stay for lunch?"

"Eh, Iie, we couldn't intrude," Takeda-sensei replied.

"Iie, you must. Please what here while I prepare the food." She said. The young caregiver got up from her seat and walked out the door.

"It's best to do what she says. She always gets what she wants in the end," Ryuu chuckled as he poured some tea into Takeda-sensei's cup.

Ukai rubbed the back of his head. He looked out the window and saw birds flying through the air, then down at the piece of paper that was given to him.

"_Can I really bring out… her true potential?"_ He questioned in his head.

* * *

_Back in the living room_

"Sora-nee-chan," a voice cried.

The group turned their attention to the small girl with four other kids behind her.

"Can you come and play with us," Sota asked.

"I can't I have guests with me, right now," Sora replied.

"Guests," Keiko questioned. They poked their head around Sora and saw group of people.

"Who are they," Nori requested as he scanned though the group.

"Ryuu told you guys that I will be having guests today. Introduce yourself."

"Yo, I'm Kiyoshi Sota."

"I'm Hibiki Keiko."

"I'm Kichiro Naoki."

"I'm Yoshiro Ren and this is my twin sister Ren. Nice to meet you," the two replied in unison.

"Welcome," the kids spoke in harmony.

"Nice to meet you guys," Sawamura replied.

"Most of the kids here are in elementary to middle school. I'm the oldest so I take care of them when I'm not a practice," Sora explained.

"How many of kids live here," Asahi asked.

"About thirty. Some of them are out with friends or at club activities.

"Sora-nee-san really takes good care of us." Keiko spoke.

"She's really good at cleaning, laundry, homework, and making desserts," Ren chirped excitedly.

"If only she was good a cooking, she would be the complete package," Sota declared.

Sora slapped the small boy on the back of his head.

"Itai! What was that for," Sota growled.

Sora shrugged.

"But it's true. Last night, you tried to make dinner again and you nearly burnt all the food. Sensei had to go out buy more groceries."

Sora flinched. She couldn't say anything because it was true. The team burst into laughter.

"So the volleyball fanatic is actually not good at something," Tsukishima snickered. Sora glared at him, embarrassed that her secret was revealed.

"Shut up, Sota," Sora yelled.

"Demo, Sora-san can become a good cook. I just hope your boyfriend will be safe…" Nori trailed off.

"You brats!"

The children giggled.

"So which one is he?"

"What do mean?"

"Your boyfriend," Keiko chirped excitedly.

"W-What?"

"Since you're part of the boys' volleyball team, we thought that you would have nabbed a boyfriend by now," Sota explained.

Sora blushed red as an apple.

"N-N-No! They are just my teammates!"

"Really, but every time you come home from practice, you're always talking about them..."

"Shut up, you brats!"

Sora tried to grab Sota, but the small boy moved out the way. He ran out the door scream "Can't get me," a couple of veins popped onto Sora's head as she ran after the small boy.

The team was kind of surprised… Ok, no surprised but shocked to see how Sora is acting. She usually calm and cool, so to see her like this was… interesting. When Sora came back with Sota in her arms with a bump on his head. She put the small boy down, rubbing the back of his head. She looked at her teammates who had grins on their faces.

"Not… Another… Word."

* * *

The next day, Sora decided that she would tell her friends her secret. During morning practice, Sora was distracted, but not to the point where wasn't focused, just when the team was taking a break and the girl regular was staring out the window most of the time. After practice, she departed to the roof where she texted her friends to meet. When she arrived at her destination, Sora hesitated to open the door. Even though she wasn't showing it, the girl was afraid to see her friend's reactions. She was about to walk away, when she say Sawamura standing at the end of the steps.

"Sawamura-senpai, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just to check to see how you were doing. I tried to calling you from the distance, but you didn't hear me," Sawamura explained.

"Gomen,"

"Don't worry about it. If you don't mind me asking, why are you going to the roof?"

Sora looked down at her feet.

"You're going to tell them,"

Sora looked up, her eyes widened at how her Captain knew what she was doing. She didn't question how he knew and just nodded her head.

"Judging by your expression, just know… you're walking away." Sawamura said sternly.

"…"

"I don't know how you feel, but I can tell you this… Even if you run away from your problems, they will always find a way to comeback at you. You have to face it head on or you will regret it in the end. I've only known you for a little while now, but I can tell… you're not the type to run away from a problem."

Sora looked at her upperclassman. She turned around and began to walk up the stairs, but stopped. She turned around and gave Sawamura a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Sawamura-senpai." She said.

Sawamura smiled at her as he watched Sora walk up the stairs towards the roof. When the girl regular opened the door, she saw her Chou and Saki listening to Daisuke who was telling them something. She assumed that it had to be a jock since the two girls started laughing. Saki then noticed Sora's presence and nudged to everyone that Sora was there. Sora walked towards them.

"Sora, why did you tell us to meet you here before class?" the girl asked.

Sora took a deep breath and spoke.

"I have something to tell you guys."

She began to explain her situation to her friends. As Sora explained, her friend's faces became serious as she went on. Once she was done, she waited for her friend's reactions. Saki looked at Sora up and down then suddenly hit her on the head.

"Ouch! What the heck was that for," She asked angrily.

"For an honor student, you sure are stupid. Do you think we would treat you any different just because of your status! I should really kick your ass!" Saki shouted.

Sora's eyes widened.

"Oi Saki, stop it." Daisuke demanded.

"Demo… I can't believe she would…"

"I know, but it must have taken a lot of courage to tell us, so don't be mad at her."

"Che… I'm only being hard on her because I care."

Sora looked at her friend's.

"We care a lot about you Sora-san. No matter what happens, we want you to be able to come and tell us anything. No matter what, we'll always be there." Chou stated.

She smiled at them and hugged her friends.

"Arigato."

After their conversation was over, Sora told her friends that she will catch up with them. Once they left, the girl regular looked at the sky. The wind blew calmly as she felt the breeze through her hair. The heavy weight that was on her heart had finally disappeared and she can see clearly now. Even though there are some things that she will have to overcome, she knows that she is not alone.

"_Now continue on," _A voice whispered.

Sora opened her eyes and wondered where the voice came from. She looked around and saw no one was there. The girl sighed, but then smiled as she looked at the sky once more before leaving the roof.

"_Mom… Dad… I promise to keep fighting."_

_Sora revealed her past and now the true journey can begin._

* * *

What do you guys think? Sora had a really sad past, but there is still some stuff that you don't know about Sora's past, so please continue to read my story. So I want to ask you guys about Sora. I just want to here about how you feel about her or what you would like to see more from her. She's very special to me because she is the person that I want to become and I'm slowing starting to be like her, just less violent :D.

I also want to know if anyone has heard about the second season for Haikyuu! People are saying yes or maybe and it is driving me crazy! So can someone please tell me when they find out the information. Thank you!

But other then that, Please review or PM me.


	10. Chapter 10: Embarrassment and Opponents

Hi everyone! Mewmewlover23 is back and ready to roll! Sorry for the long wait and thank you for waiting for this chapter. Finals were coming up last year, so I was preparing for them. I did well, but then I took a winter class, got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out and the fan broke in my house. I've been just busy, but I'm back!

Oh and for those who don't know, they are making the second season of Haikyuu! Do you guys know how excited I was to hear the news? I was jumping on my bed and running around the house!

But you guys have waited long enough, so let me stop talking and let you read Chapter 10! Enjoy :)

* * *

Chapter 10: Embarrassment and Opponents

It was the night before Golden Week, Sora was double-checking her bag to make sure that she had everything for the week, even triple checking due to the excitement she just couldn't contain. Takeda-sensei said that she could stay home since Shimizu-san house was close by, subtly implying his disfavor towards Sora being under the same roof as her male teammates. But, she refused because she wanted to get to everyone a little better, so sleeping under the same roof didn't bother her. Mostly because most of her teammates back home were boys and they were… interesting people.

Sora patted down her extra clothes and shoes, turning around as Minami-sensei walked in.

"Sora-chan, do you have everything pack?"

"Un, it seems like everything is in there. I just have to make sure to put my toothbrush in my bag tomorrow."

"Sokka, it would be your first time away from the orphanage. Please be careful."

Sweat dropped down Sora's head. "Aunty, I'm only gone for week."

"I know, but I going to miss my sweet little girl," Minami hummed, rubbing tears from her eyes.

Sora sighed. She loved her aunt, but sometimes she wondered.

"I'll be fine. If I need anything then I will call. I highly doubt that anything will happen since I'm with my teammates."

"Speaking of them, how is everything?"

"Nothing's changed. The only thing that happened was that someone would be in charge of walking me home from now on," Sora explained annoyed. Minami-sensei chuckled.

"How sweet. Next time you should invite them in. The kids have been asking about them and I would love to chat with them."

The girl laughed nervously. _"When you say it like that, it makes me worry," _she thought.

That morning, Sora was quietly walking to school. She didn't have to take the kids to school, so she didn't have to rush that morning and decided to put her headphones in her ears and listen to her music. Even though she lived in America, she loved other countries' music, so when she got to Japan, she downloaded whatever was trending at the time. She then felt someone touch her, turned around and it was Nishinoya.

"Nishinoya-senpai, Ohayoo," she greeted.

"Yo! Angel-san!"

"Senpai, do you have to call me 'Angel-san,'" Sora queried wearily.

"Of course! It suits you!"

"_Is that really a reason to call me that?"_ She grinned sheepishly and let out a quiet sigh as they made their way towards school.

Nishinoya hopped and balanced himself on the edge of the walkway. "Are you excited about the practice match?"

"You bet. I'm looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've been to a training camp, so I'm excited."

"Un! That's the spirit! We both have to give it our all! Also…"

Nishinoya kneeled down and bowed his head solemnly, earning a confused look from Sora.

"With you and Kiyoko-san, I have to work twice as hard!"

Sora laughed nervously. "Senpai trains hard already, so I hope to learn from you."

Nishinoya placed both his hands over his heart. "Angel-san!" He cried happily as he jumped towards her, causing Sora to shriek and end up smacking him.

"Don't just jump on someone like that!"

Nishinoya rubbed his cheek and just grinned at her.

When they arrived at school, they departed to their classrooms. Once inside the classroom, she saw Chou running towards her with tears in her eyes as she hid behind the tall girl.

"W-What the heck is going on?"

"Sora-san, tell them I don't want to go," Chou whined.

"What are you talking about?"

Suddenly the other door opened and Daisuke came into the room with Saki walking behind him.

"Chou, you can't run away," Daisuke hollered. Chou screeched as she ran out the door with Daisuke right behind her.

Sora looked at Saki.

"To answer your question, the manager for the basketball club is sick and won't be able to come to practice during their training camp. He wants Chou to come because she can cook and their other manager is like you. Can't cook to save her life."

Sora's right eye began to twitch while her friend only grinned at her. "Do they really have to cause commotion early in the morning though," she groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Just let them be. This always happens and Daisuke always losses."

"Sokka."

"Anyway, are you ready for your training camp?"

"Yeah, a week of playing volleyball is just what I need. Home Economics is driving me up the wall."

Saki giggled. "Well don't forget you have to prepare for the test coming up, so practice."

Sora shrugged as she sat at her desk.

* * *

That afternoon, classes ended for the day. Sora made her way to the girl's locker room and changed into a long sleeve white athletic shirt, purple shorts, ankle white socks, and her volleyball shoes. She tied her hair up into a ponytail, then walked out the door to go to practice. Once everyone arrived, Ukai-san and Takeda-san called everyone together.

"The practice match against Nekoma is in four days. Inter-High preliminaries will be soon thereafter. We've got no time, but you guys are full of holes. Since that's the case, there's only one way for you to win. Practice. Practice. And practice. Save the ball, even if you have to barf."

"Osu," Hinata shouted.

"_He barfed already,"_ Sugawara, Tanaka, Sora, and Kageyama drawled in their heads.

They started practice with receives with each player receiving as many hits as they could. Ukai had Sora stand off to the side with him. The reason being was because Takeda-sensei told him about her analyzing skill and said she would go last after everyone else.

She agreed and took out fifteen notebooks from her bag.

"What are those," Takeda-sensei asked.

"The data I have already collected on everyone since I've been here. During breaks I usually make mental notes on someone's strength or something that needs improvement on. Also, these three books are the data that I have collected on myself, so please take a chance to look at them," she clarified.

Sweat dropped down everyone's head.

"_Is she a computer?"_

Sora then began to analyze everyone and then put them into categorizes based upon their levels. So far, Sawamura, Kageyama, Sugawara, Tanaka, and Nishinoya were in the strong receives category. Asahi, Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita were in the decent but improving group, and Hinata, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi were in the weakest receiver group. She then began to make mental notes on the areas of improvement and stances that would benefit them.

"Sora, it's your turn," Ukai called.

"Hai!"

She put her books down and walked onto the court. Ukai then served her a series of hits around the court. Surprisingly, she was able to receive each ball with no problem. He was actually impressed because not many girls could handle powerful hits, so he knew that she must have went through an intense training to be able to receive such difficult shots.

"Good job. All right. Spiking practice next," Ukai announced.

"Osu!"

Sora did the same thing for spiking. As she was watching everyone, she noticed that Sugawara was looking at Ukai because was impressed with Kageyama setting Hinata up with a good kill. She shook it off and went back to observing everyone, until it was her turn.

Since Sugawara got distracted earlier, he was a bit behind, so she got into Kageyama's line. She then began to run towards the net, then jumped high and spiked a powerful spike down towards the line.

To Ukai's surprise, Sora didn't look happy. She turned her attention back towards Kageyama.

"One more," she demanded as she went to take her position again.

"Huh? That was a good hit," Ukai stated.

Sora stopped and turned around to reveal her icy stare that caught the temporary Coach off guard.

"Demo, my start was off, I would have missed it."

Ukai was surprised considering that he couldn't even tell if she was off. He actually thought her start was on point. As Sora spiked the ball again, she looked satisfied and went to the back of the line.

Then the letter that was given to him by Minami-sensei popped into his head. He shook it off and told everyone to serve.

* * *

Once practice was over and the light in the sky was dimming, they made their way to the extracurricular activity housing. Hinata didn't even bother waiting for the others to catch up and proceeded to sprint throughout the facilities with unabashed awe.

"Wow! This where we're staying," Hinata cried. He then ran in and began to look inside the bedroom, shower, and bathroom, his smile only widening.

"You need to calm down," Kageyama snipped.

"But this is my first time at a training camp," Hinata answered excitedly.

"Demo, if you get overly excited you'll throw up," Sora rebutted. Tsukishima rolled his eyes as he padded down the hall in his slippers.

"I have to hang all day with this slovenly bunch. What so fun about that?"

Tanaka and Nishinoya whipped around towards the middle blocker.

"Tsukishima, you bastard!"

"Kiyoko-san's within in 500 meter radius of us! How can that be slovenly?" Nishinoya howled.

"How pitiful that you can't understand how refreshing this space is! It's like this well spring in the Ou Mountains."

Sugawara stared bemusedly at the two. "Shimizu's home is nearby, so she not staying here," he announced, causing the two idiots to fall to the ground.

The doors the kitchen opened as Takeda-sensei walked out until he noticed Tanaka and Nishinoya clawing themselves across the ground, pale as zombies.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Take-chan… We can't… go on…" Tanaka proclaimed as he slowly tried to get up. Nishinoya did the same, until they notice Kiyoko-san standing in front of them, an almost ethereal aura surrounding her despite the bleak-colored walls and oil stains on her apron.

The life in their faces was restored.

Sora laughed nervously until Nishinoya and Tanaka got up and sprinted towards her, making her tense up.

"Sora-san, are you staying with Kiyoko-san?!"

"No, I'll be staying here."

They cheered. "Yatta!"

"_Maybe I should have stayed with Kiyoko-san," _Sora mused as she watched the two boys dance around.

"Oi, if Angel-chan is staying here, then that means…" Nishinoya stated.

"Un, it does…" Tanaka continued. "We will be sleeping in the same—" Before they could finish, Sawamura stood behind them and gave them both well-deserved smacks.

"Sora will not be staying in the same room. She's staying in the room next to Ukai-san and Sensei."

The upperclassman faces went pale, as the perfect image had just shattered.

Once everyone put their things down, the team filed into the dining area where a feast of food was awaiting them.

After giving their thanks, Sora took a bite of her food and immediately her eyes widened. It was good, no… it was like _heaven_ in her mouth.

"Sensei, Kiyoko-san, did you make this," she asked.

"Un, is it good," Takeda-sensei queried.

"Hai, it's delicious!"

"Must be good to actually taste non-burnt food," Tsukishima commented. Sora raked him over with her chopsticks firmly gripped in her hands. Tsukishima didn't look fazed and went on picking at his rice with a smirk subdued on his face, Yamaguchi chuckling, 'Nice, Tsukki,' beside him.

"Are you not good a cooking," Takeda asked.

She nodded as a depressing aura formed around her. "Every time I try to cook, I either burn the food or it's tasteless,"

"Demo, she's really good at deserts, right," Sawamura reassured.

"Demo, you can't survive with sweets all your life," Sora professed sadly.

Takeda smiled. "It's a start, but if you would like to learn, I'm sure Kiyoko-chan would love to help." Sora looked at the female manager.

"Un, I don't mind." Shimizu agreed.

After dinner, everyone disbursed to their rooms. Sora decided that she would study for bit since she would be last to take her shower. While she was study, her phone began to ring. It was a text message from her friend in America, Stephanie.

"_Hey! Good luck during your training camp and practice match coming up. We are in the finals for our first tournament, so look forward to hear some good news tomorrow."_

Sora's attention was redirected towards the knock at the door. She opened the door and it was Takeda-sensei.

"Sora-chan, it your turn to take a bath."

"Hai."

* * *

The next morning, Sora was observing everyone, but this time she began to correct everyone stances and positions. Afterwards, Ukai ordered them to run, resulting in Kageyama and Hinata having an unnecessary competition: from a distance it looked more like they were battling each other in volume than they were in speed. Sawamura tried to say something, but they weren't listening and needless to say, Hinata ended up straying away from the group.

Sawamura then told everyone to go search for the small boy. They all scattered, and went to find their decoy player. Sora went down the street that she thought she saw Hinata run down. As she was searching, she began to hear small animal sounds coming from a small box.

She walked over to it and opened it to see a small orange kitten staring back up at them. Sora blushed.

"K-Kawaii! You're so cute!"

Sora picked up the small cat and began to pet it. The kitten then snuggled into her chest, making himself comfortable.

"You must be lost. I bet your owner is probably worried."

As she scratched the kitten's ear, she heard a familiar voice behind her. Something low and clouded with bemusement. "Sora?"

She turned around and nearly dropped the cat in her arms.

"Kuroo!"

The boy's shocked expression turned into smirk. "It's been a while. You look good."

"Un, you too. How's it going?"

"Kenma. I'm sure he took a wrong turn while he was focusing on his PSP," Kuroo explained.

"Yeah, I figured. Demo, what are you doing here?"

"We are here for a practice match. We're playing a team around here. Speaking of which, what are you doing?"

"Training. My team is playing against our formal rivals this week."

Kuroo's eyebrows rose. "Hooo, so you're playing volleyball again?"

Sora nodded, smiling as she looked down at her feet. Kuroo patted the girl on the head and ruffled her hair. "Oi! Stop it," she shouted angrily.

Kuroo laughed. "Think about it, you never told me what school you got into."

"That's because I had to study to take the entrance exam and you were busy with matches coming up. Remember," Sora said coolly.

"Demo, you could have called. Not hearing from you made lonely," Kuroo hummed. He tilted Sora's chin up, making her have eye contact with him as he gave a sly grin. He let her go and then received a smack on the shoulder. He winced in pain, but he was lucky that it was only a smack.

"Sora," another voiced called.

"Ah, I better get back. It's good to see you Kuroo. Next time we see each other, we'll be opponents," Sora declared confidently.

"Ah, we'll crush you guys."

A flock of white birds flew over them and the kitten that was in Sora's arms jumped and ran passed Kuroo towards a lone cat spotted cat down the alleyway.

Sora watched her friend leave before leaving to go back to her teammates. When she arrived at the end of the street, Asahi was waiting for her.

"Senpai, did you guys find Hinata?"

"Iie, but Sugawara said that he would go looking down the last street to search for him. Everyone one else is heading back," Asahi explained.

"Sokka, let's get going,"

The tall male nodded as they began to run in silence for a while until Sora spoke.

"Senpai, do you think you would get chosen for the starting line up?"

"Eh? Well, it's all up to the coach. Why are you asking?"

"… Before we started running, I overheard Ukai-san and Sensei talking about the line-up. He said that he was having a difficult time choosing a setter and the last wing spiker."

Asahi was surprised. "Are you worried?"

"Un, I'm worried about Sugawara-san."

"Really?" Asahi questioned.

Sora looked at her upperclassman with a confused look, causing the boy flinch.

"Iie, I was just surprised that you more concern about Sugawara's position then your own."

She stopped running. "I… want to play my part the best that I can. Even if that means that I can't be a part of the matches. Demo, I won't lose to senpai either."

Asahi looked at the girl and grinned. "Ah, neither will I."

They then started up running again until they got to gym.

…

That night, Sora was making her way to dinner when she saw Ukai-san. She knew that she might not be chosen as a regular, but that was not going to stop her from doing her best. She was about to call his name when she saw Sugawara standing in front of him. She hid behind the corner and listened to the conversation.

"Even if it's out of pity because I'm a third-year, as long as I get another chance to play in a match, that's all that matters," Sugawara expressed confidently.

Sora smiled. She then came from out the corner and spoke.

"I also agree to that."

The two males averted their attention towards the female player.

"I've been a regular since I was in middle school. I've played against people who have outshined me many times. And there were times when my father would sit me out. Demo, he would put me in when he thought was best. Even if I was just a substitute, I would give it my all. I haven't been playing long here, I may not be strong enough, but I'm willing to fight."

Ukai looked at two players, eyebrows sewn high on his head. "You two… I think I've been underestimating you both. To be honest, I'm amazed right now."

"… What?"

"I'm not an experienced coach yet, but… I will do everything in my power so you guys can go on winning."

Sugawara and Sora smiled and grinned at each other. "Thank you!" They both bowed.

During dinner, Sora was sitting between Hinata and Kageyama as they were having an eating contest, causing food to fly around her.

"Where does that appetite come from?" Tsukishima grimaced.

"I don't know where it's coming from, but if they don't start eating with manners, there will be pain in their future," Sora grumbled, causing the two to flinch. Nishinoya hopped up from his seat and slid behind the first years.

"Hey, eat. Eat even if you can't eat any more!"

After eating, everyone one departed to their rooms. Once the first year boys finished their bath, Takeda again knocked on her door to inform Sora that the bathroom was open. She was relieved: she finally able to relax and think about everything that has happened over these couple of weeks. Everything has been going well. She was starting to love volleyball again; she met wonderful friends, and playing for a great team.

As she was enjoying her bath, she heard a strange noise coming from the small window. She got out the bath, put her towel around her body, and walked over to the window. She opened the window and saw a curious little shape, staring up at her with black glassy eyes.

Sora's skin paled as it angled its slimy legs and sprung towards her.

….

The boys were in their room holding conversations with one another and playing a card game when their walls shook with a bloodcurdling scream.

"_**AHHH!**_"

"What heck," Tanaka shouted.

"That sound like Sora-chan," Sugawara said worriedly.

Hinata and Kageyama immediately ran out the room, with the others right behind them. When they arrived at the bath room, Hinata and Kageyama opened the door.

"Sora-san, are you ok," Kageyama yelled. Hinata then opened door to the baths and saw Sora on her knees, holding herself. Kageyama came in and looked at the situation.

"Sora-san, what happened?" Hinata asked and got down on his knees to see if Sora was ok.

Sora lifted her head and looked at them with tears in her eyes.

"Hinata… Kageyama… Please help me!" She screamed and jumped onto Hinata. She wrapping her arms around him tightly as they both fell backwards. The others came in, but were in shock to see what was going on.

The two boys turned around to see their teammates staring them down with a myriad of scolding and amused stares.

"T-This isn't what it looks like," Hinata fumbled to explain.

"It doesn't look like that way to us," Tsukishima jeered.

"Damare!"

"Sora-chan, what happened?" Sugawara asked worriedly.

Sora lifted her head and then looked at the group.

"… Uh… fr…"

"Huh, I didn't hear you?"

"Frog…"

"Eh?"

"There's a frog over there!" She screamed as she pointed to the small little frog hoping over to them. Sora face became chalky.

"AHHH! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" She shrieked, nearly squeezing Hinata to death. The small boy face turned even redder then it already was.

Daichi quickly picked up the small frog, put it out the window, and then closed it.

"See, he's gone now," Sugawara reassured.

Sora looked up at the group with tears still in her eyes and gave them her thanks.

"Yosh, now everyone leave," Daichi ordered, sweeping the lot of them out, "Once she is dressed, everyone is going to give their apologies to her."

"Someone should grab Hinata before he self-implodes," Sugawara offered.

Sora looked down and saw she was hugging Hinata. Realizing why he would possibly, 'self-implode,' she quickly got off him.

"G-Gomen Hinata!" Sora nearly shouted as her face began to turn red.

There was a silence for a minute, until stream emerges from the decoy's head and fainted.

"Hinata!" They all screamed.

* * *

The next day during practice, everything went on as usual. Well, almost. Ukai and Takeda-sensei noticed that Sora and Hinata were acting really strange considering that every time Sora and Hinata would make eye contact with each other, their faces would turn bright red. Sora wasn't near Hinata during the whole practice. She was around Shimizu the whole time, which isn't weird, but usually she was talking to Hinata and Kageyama. And, they were having a practice match and every time Hinata or Sora scored, the two would make attempts to congratulate each other, but would stop and blush at one another.

"Did… Something happened," Takeda-sensei questioned.

"Who knows. But it's not affecting their practicing, so I don't think it's something to concern ourselves with," Ukai stated as he watched the group.

The practice match ended, and Sora went to grab a water bottle when she then noticed another hand. She looked up and saw Hinata. They both jumped back and didn't say a word to each other. Sora then felt her heart skipped a beat again.

"_Ughhh! Why does this keep happening to me,"_ she mentally groaned.

"_What's wrong with me? Why is it every time I look at Sora-san, my face heats up,"_ Hinata inwardly cried.

Unknowing to them, the other crows were watching the two first years, smiling or smirking at them.

"Those two are really something," Daichi said.

"It is kinda of hard to talk to someone when you were in that type of situation," Sugawara defended.

"Un, demo seeing the cute side of Sora was really rare," Tanaka announced as steam blew out of his noise.

"So-So, Sora-chan looked too cute!" Nishinoya nearly yelled.

While the other upperclassmen were talking upon each other, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were quietly drinking water. Of course, Yamaguchi thought of what happened last night, but Tsukishima was uninterested, until he looked at Kageyama. The male had a sour look on his face as he stared at two first years. If looks could kill, those two would most likely being dead by now.

"What's wrong you, King? Does is bother you that your followers aren't giving you much attention?"

Kageyama didn't say anything. He then made his way towards the two.

"Oi, are you two done," he said angrily.

The two first years looked at him with confused expressions. "What are you talking about?" Hinata asked.

"You two are being a distraction during practice."

"What are you talking about," Sora retorted.

"Che… this is why a girl shouldn't be here."

There was a small silence in to room. Everyone could not believe their ears. Did Kageyama just say that?! They looked at Sora and saw a dark aura forming around her.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Hinata already sucks as it is, he doesn't need to be distracted by you."

Sora choked down the overwhelming urge to smack him… no punch him square in the face right now. How could he say that? What is going on in the peanut head of his right now?

"Chotto, Kageyama. Both of them are practicing hard…" Daichi tried to refer.

"What's your problem? What so bad to get distracted once in a while. Volleyball isn't life you know. There are something's that are more important," Sora hollered.

"That's why we will lose if you keep thinking that way," Kageyama replied angrily.

"Oi. Kageyama, Sora-san, stop arguing," Hinata interjected.

"You stay out of this," Kageyama and Sora snapped.

A vein popped onto Hinata's head. "I have every right to say something you know!"

"Shut up dumbass, this has nothing to do with you!"

"This is between me and him," Sora said, pointing to Kageyama.

"I am just a part of this as anyone!"

"Oi, you three!" Ukai roared.

The three stopped arguing and looked at the coach. Shiver went down their spines as they felt the angry aura coming from Ukai-san.

"Stop arguing! All of you get back practice," he ordered.

Everyone began to scatter. The three freshmen gave once last glare at each other and went back to their positions.

…

That night, Sora was trying to do homework, but couldn't. She was thinking about what happened this afternoon. As she thought about it, maybe she was being a distraction. But if she were, she wouldn't have allowed that to affect her. She finally decided to get up and go for a run. Luckily, it wasn't light out yet, so she wouldn't get in trouble for leaving and not telling anyone as long as no one knew, but still left a note to indicate where she went. As she was running, all her stressful thoughts had blown away. But she then thought about Hinata and started to run faster.

"_What's wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about him?"_

She finally stopped running to catch her breath. She then looked at her surrounding and realized… She was lost. She looked in her pockets and realized she didn't bring her cellphone.

"_Why is this happening to me?!"_

Meanwhile, Hinata was making his way towards Sora's room. Even though he had no idea what was going on or why Kageyama would say something like that, but he couldn't let things get worse. When he turned the corner, the small boy saw Kageyama standing in front of Sora's door.

"Kageyama," Hinata spoke, making the setter flinch.

"Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that."

Kageyama looked at the other direction before he spoke.

"I came to… apologize to Sora-san."

Hinata's eyes grew big. "_You're_ apologizing?"

"Shut up, you idiot… I shouldn't have said what I said today. She isn't the type to cause trouble for people, so…"

"If you thought that, then why did you say she was being a distraction?"

Kageyama honestly couldn't place why he said what he did. As he kept playing it over in his head, he still couldn't figure out why he acted that way.

"You sure are strange," Hinata stated.

Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the head and began to squeeze.

"Like I should hear that from you."

"Itai!"

Kageyama finally let go of him. "I just couldn't get this bad taste out of my mouth, that's why," Kageyama explained.

"Let's just tell her together."

Kageyama nodded and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again and there was still no answer. They decided to open the door and saw an empty room.

"She's not here," Kageyama said.

"Demo, her phone is here," Hinata stated.

"So? She could be in the bathroom."

"Your right, but…"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Hinata looked around the room, and saw a note on a near Sora's bag. He read through it and then his face went pale.

"What's wrong?"

"She went out for a run," Hinata answered.

"Sokka, we'll just come back."

"But it's dark outside! Something could happen to her!"

The two then raced back to the room they were staying in, grabbed their shoes, and then rushed outside. They began to look around the area, wondering which way the female player went. 30 minutes later and they still couldn't find her.

"Damn it, where the hell did she go?" Kageyama cursed stepping over a branch.

"She's got to be around here somewhere. But where?"

As they kept looking, the stumbled upon a nearby playground and then saw a certain someone swinging on a swing.

"Sora-san!" Hinata shouted.

Sora stopped swinging and looked to see who called her.

"Hinata, Kageyama?" They both ran up to her.

"Have you've been here this whole time?"

"H-Hai. I got lost, but I remembered that there was a playground that wasn't too far from where we were staying, so I searched for it and I've been here this whole time. Did senpai send you to search for me?"

"Iie, we came to your room and I found your note. We rushed out without telling senpai where we were going," Hinata exclaimed.

"They're probably wondering what's going on. I'll go back first and tell them what happened," Kageyama said before turning back.

"Chotto matte Kageyama," Sora voiced. "About today… I'm…"

"You… Don't have to apologize. I was wrong," he mumbled awkwardly.

Sora blinked a few times.

"Wait, did you just say you were wrong?"

"Why is it so surprising to you both that I'm apologizing?!"

"Because you always think your right," Sora and Hinata answered in unison.

A vein appeared on Kageyama's head, his words coming out gritty as he tried to remain calm. "I shouldn't have said you were a big distraction."

Sora looked at him and then chuckled. "You're a really dense person."

"What?!"

"But, I really appreciate it. I'm also sorry for yelling at you and Hinata."

Kageyama just looked at her. "I'm going ahead," he stated as he turned around and walked away.

"_Geez, he's such an easy person to read,"_ Sora thought.

…

While on the way back, Sora was looking up at the sky. The moon was is full tonight, shining beautifully in the night sky. Hinata looked more tentative then usual and she wondered why. There was then a sudden noise and Hinata stopped Sora from walking and prepared to take action, when a cat walked out in front of them. It meowed, and then walked away.

"Ummm, what were you trying to do?"

Hinata flinched. "I-I thought it a bad guy, so I wanted to protect you."

Sora desperately tried to hold back her laughter, but couldn't. Hinata began to blush as he watched her laugh her lungs out.

"It's not funny!"

"G-Gomen. I just found that line really corny. I never had someone say that to me, so I really appreciate it." She smiled.

"I-It's nothing," Hinata mumbled.

"I must have really scared you both."

"Of course you did. If something were to happen to you, everyone would be sad. _I'd be sad._"

"Eh?"

"Sora-san, you've been hurt so much. But you're really strong and you're always sticking up for others… I think you should rely on us more. Everyone really cares about you. We want to protect you no matter what, so please don't scare me like that!"

"You?"

Hinata then realized what he had said and blushed.

"Ok, I'll be more careful. Thanks for worrying about me," she said, face just as red.

As the two made their way inside the extracurricular facilities, Ukai and the rest of the team was waiting for them. Sora then endured a heated lecture by Ukai-san, Takeda-sensei, and Daichi for a while and then was sent to her room.

The next day, Ukai-san announced the starting line-up for the practice match. Hinata and Tsukishima were given the middle blocker positions, Kageyama would be setter, Nishinoya would be the libero, and Daichi, Asahi, and Tanaka was given the wind spiker positions. Sora, along with Sugawara, Yamaguchi and the other players were not chosen.

Sora looked at Sugawara, who had a serious expression on his face. Sora sighed and then nudged at her upperclassman. He looked at her and she gave him a smile, indicating that the battle wasn't over yet. He smiled and gave her nod. They then returned they then returned they're attention back to Ukai-san. Once the coach was done, than prepare to set up for today's practice. Sora was rolling the cart of balls when she noticed Tanaka motioning her over towards him.

"Sora-chan, let's train together so you can learn your senpai's awesome skills!"

Sugawara tilted his head, eyebrows already drawn in an amused manner.

"Tanaka, aren't you only a couple months older than her?"

"That's right," Daichi mused; crossing his arms sagely, "You're only five months older than Hinata."

Tanaka, although visually chastised, immediately jumped to defend himself; he couldn't just let his reputation as an older, wiser, and undoubtedly cool upperclassman just get stomped on by his own elders.

"E-Eeh?! I'm still a senpai!"

"Senpai! Senpai," Nishinoya echoed, high fiving his fellow second year.

Sora's chuckles were a bit strained as she scratched the back of her head, a light flush resting on her cheeks.

"W-well, I'm not going to lose to you, Tanaka-senpai," she goaded, gaining a bit more confidence near the end of her proclamation. "I definitely won't lose to you!"

Nishinoya and Tanaka went momentary jelly-legged as Sora stomped her foot and puffed out her chest proudly before springing back up to straighten their jackets and puff out their own chests. They would teach a thing or two to their little kouhai.

"Alright, Sora-chan! Do as we do, scrunch up your face like this and you'll scare any guy you don't want talking to you," Tanaka barked, pursing his lips into a dark sneer while Nishinoya nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, and then just tilt your head like this." Nishinoya lifted his chin up in an arrogant manner, emphasizing the shadows on his face. "If that doesn't work, then just call your two senpai's here!"

"Please don't teach her such irresponsible things," Sugawara hummed, hiding obvious distaste in his teasing tone.

"I appreciate the concern, but I think I'll be just fine. But if I need you, I promise to call," She mused.

* * *

That night, Sora was looking outside at the moon. She then opened her hand and looked at a hair accessory with two wings on it. She smiled down at it and closed her hand.

"_I'll definitely get stronger."_

Then, her phone began to vibrate. She walked over to it and it was a text message from Kuroo.

"_Come and see us play. Karasuno Sougou Sports Park at 8:50."_

Sora began to text back.

"_I'm playing at that time to. So I guess I'll see you there."_

A few seconds later, she received another text.

"_Cool. See you then."_

Sora could help but smile. There was then a knock at the door. Sora closed the window and walked over to the door. When she opened it, it was Sugawara.

"Suga-senpai, what's up?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to get your opinion on these," Sugawara said as he handed her a piece of paper.

Sora opened it and saw that it was signals. She began to analyze them and she was impressed.

"These signals are amazing. It makes it easier for the setter to set up the wind spiker and for Hinata and Kageyama's attack to work effectively."

"Un, I wanted to get your opinion on them."

"Iie, I mean, I've come up with some signals, but these are far better than mine. I think these will work."

Sugawara chuckled. "Arigato. I really need to hear some encouragement."

Sora looked at her upperclassmen.

"Our time will come."

"Eh?"

"This is my first time not ever being picked as a regular. I'm actually really frustrated, but I have to do my part, so that the team can be successful. You're doing the same thing. So, let show our abilities together."

Sugawara's eyes widened. He then smiled and patted Sora on the head.

"Un, let's do it together."

"Hai!"

…

It was the last day for practice and then tomorrow was the match. Sora was watching everyone practice serves, making corrections here and there for everyone. After that was done, Takeda-sensei called everyone over and began to pass out uniforms.

"Wow… It's the one I saw on TV," Hinata said excitedly as held up his uniform. He then noticed that Nishinoya had his uniform on already.

"But only Noya-san's is orange. You stand out."

"Of course. After all, I have the lead role," Nishinoya boasted.

Hinata tilted his head. "Leading role?"

"The libero goes on and off the court frequently during a match. He's the only that needs to be noticeable. Baka," Kageyama retorted.

"I know that. I totally know that!"

"You wouldn't have asked, if you didn't know," Sora stated.

Hinata huffed and looked down at his jersey; instantly his pout dropped into a disheartened frown.

"Kageyama is one notch higher than me…"

"I knew he was going to say that," Tanaka and Tsukishima said in unison with a smirk.

"Ah, Sora-san, where is your uniform," Hinata asked.

The team stopped and the looked at their female regular. Sora let out a sigh and then spoke.

"There weren't enough, so I have to wait till Takeda-sensei orders more," Sora smiled sadly.

"G-Gomen! I didn't…"

"Don't worry about. I'll be fine without a uniform for a while."

"Actually Sora-chan, this one is yours," Shimizu said as she handed Sora a bag.

"But I thought…"

"It came earlier than expected. You should go try it on."

Sora smiled. "Hai!" She voiced excitedly. She ran out the gym and went to the girl's locker room to change. Once she was done, ran back to the gym so that everyone could see.

"A-Ano. How do I look?"

Everyone eyes widened when they saw her re-enter the gym with her uniform. Instead of it being a collared shirt, it was a black tank to with the orange and white stripes down the side and black shorts with the number thirteen on it.

"Kawaii!" Tanaka and Nishinoya yelled excitedly.

"You look great Sora-chan," Sugawara assured as Sawamura nodding his head in agreement.

"It looks just like ours, but the girl version. Since Sora-chan is the only female on our team, I thought it would be best to change the uniform for her. Do you like?" Takeda-sensei asked.

"Hai, it fits great!"

"Sora-san, you look really cool," Hinata expressed.

"Hontoni?"

"Un!"

Sora giggled. Her eyes then inverted towards Kageyama. He flinched, knowing that the girl was waiting for a compliment, but he couldn't find the right words to say.

"Oh, what wrong your majesty? Did you get tongue tied," Tsukishima taunted.

"Shut up! You haven't say anything either!" Kageyama yelled.

"She looks just like she usually does. It's no point in saying anything."

Suddenly, Tanaka and Nishinoya came up behind the tall male.

"How can you that?" Tanaka roared.

"Angel-chan looks cuter then she usually does!" Nishinoya protested.

"Then all the king has to say that "she look cute" right?"

"What about you?"

"I already gave my opinion."

Kageyama couldn't say anything. He then looked at Sora and spoke.

"Y-Y-You look nice," he grumbled.

Sora was desperately trying to hold back her laughter, but couldn't. She bent over her knees and let out a hearty, "Bwhahaha!"

"What are you laughing about?!"

"Because you're way too nervous. It's hilarious," Sora choked as she continued to laugh.

Ukai and Takeda-sensei chuckled as they watched the group.

"All right, let get back to practice!"

"Hai!"

* * *

_Nekoma vs. Karasuno Practice Match_

When they arrived at the sports complex, their opponents were making their way towards them. The group stopped and lined-up in front of the team. Sora had her eyes closed. She was thinking of all the hard work she and her teammates put in these last few days. They were ready to face this team and even though she wasn't playing, she will do her part to make sure they are successful. When she opened her eyes, Sora's face dropped when she noticed two familiar faces out of the opponents.

"_Kuroo… Kenma… W-What the heck is going on?!"_

_Then came an unlikely reunion, in which old friends now become foes._

* * *

Yay! I was too excited when I saw this episode, so I'm really going to enjoy writing this chapter. Also, you guys are probably wondering how Sora knows Kenma and Kuroo. I can't tell you, but their is a juice scene between Kuroo and Sora, so be prepared to laugh! But I hope you all like this chapter. Oh, I also want to do a contest where a fan can help me write the next chapter, but I have to talk it over with my awesome partner Bergliot! Also, if you haven't checked out her story that I mentioned in Chapter 6, you might want to. She is such a talented writer and I am grateful that she is helping me out!

Also, I am think about creating a talk show story with everyone from Haikyuu and Sora, so let me know what you guys think about it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review!

Ideas are welcomed!

Bye!


	11. Chapter 11(Not A Chapter)

Hi everyone!

Mewmewlover23 has a huge announcement! I have official graduated from college and will know resume Angel's Wings!

I know I have been away for so long, but my teachers wanted to be jerks and not allow me to write in class and giving me projects and final exams. Gross! But I did it! So I can't complain, but now I'm searching for a job, so I have more time to sit down and write the story. Plus I had a bit of writers block.

I also wanted to announce that I cannot get in touch with my partner, so I'm looking for another beta writer to help with the story. If you know anyone, please tell them about me. But I going to try my best to update the story, so please continue to read this story!


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